Merino Breed Research Articles

Verification of pedigree information with paternity testing in Karacabey Merino sheep.

Complex tests of DNA sequences, genetic research, and the use of specific DNA polymorphisms as genetic markers have all advanced rapidly in recent years. It is widely used in DNA-based parental testing. Therefore, it has replaced the blood types routinely used in pedigree tests. The study aimed to evaluate the 14 microsatellite loci in the study in terms of paternity test parameters and to investigate the usability of the relevant loci in determining the parentage of the Karacabey Merino breed. In this study, paternity testing was performed on 5 rams of the Karacabey Merino breed and their probable 98 offspring using 14 microsatellite loci. A total of 290 alleles were observed in the study. The observed heterozygosity ratio (Ho) based on loci was between 0.82 and 0.98, and the expected heterozygosity ratio (He) was between 0.87 and 0.93. Individual exclusion probability (PE) values for the loci were calculated to be between 0.596 and 0.761, with combined exclusion probability (CPE) values of 0.99999995. According to the results of the study, paternity tests using 14 microsatellite markers in Karacabey Merino sheep can be used with high accuracy.

PRODUCTIVE AND BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RUSSIAN MEAT MERINOS SHEEP WITH DIFFERENT LINEAR SELECTION

Line breeding is a difficult but effective zootechnical process in purebred sheep husbandry. Linear sheep consistently transmit their characteristics to offspring in order to increase and identify the most promising genotypes, characterized by high productivity and breeding efficiency, by detecting interline selection. The main purpose of the work was to identify the most suitable options for intra- and interline selection of the Russian meat merino breed. The article studies the early development of animals’ growth and physique, the high rates of animals, live weight in different age periods, slaughter and meat qualities. We established that young animals obtained by mating between the animal lines VK-40 and ME-50 were characterized by more proportional body shapes, better slaughter and meat qualities. The increase in live weight of lambs obtained by mating queens of the VK-40 line and rams of the ME-50 line (group III) was more intense than their peers from the intraline selection of the VK-40 line (I group) and of queens of the line AC- 30 with ME-50 rams (group II). The heaviest carcasses were in lambs obtained from the mating of queens of the VK-40 line and rams of the ME-50 line (13.26 kg), the weight of the carcass was greater, compared with the same indicator of the peers of groups I and II, respectively, by 7.7% and 4.0%, by internal fat mass – by 21.8% and 9.8%, by slaughter weight – by 8.3% and 4.3%.

Epidemiology of bluetongue virus infection among small ruminants in Turkey: Seroprevalence and associated risk factors.

Bluetongue (BT) is an endemic disease of small ruminants in Turkey, and it has substantial socio-economic impact at national level. To reduce this impact, vaccination has been used for the control of BT but sporadic outbreaks have been reported. Although sheep and goat farming plays an important role in rural communities, little is known about the BT epidemiological situation in small ruminants in Turkey. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of the bluetongue virus (BTV) and to identify the potential risk factors associated with BTV seropositivity in small ruminants. This study was conducted in the Antalya Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey, from June 2018 to June 2019. A total of 1026 blood samples, from clinically healthy goats (n=517) and sheep (n=509), obtained from randomly selected unvaccinated flocks (n=100) were tested for BTV anti-VP7 antibodies by using a competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay test. A questionnaire was administered to the flock owners to obtain data related to sampled flocks and animals. At the animal level, the true prevalence of BTV antibodies was 74.2% (n=651/1026, 95% CI = 70.7-77.7) with 85.3% (n=370/509, 95% CI = 80.6-89.9) seropositive sheep and 63.3% (n=281/517, 95% CI = 58.2-68.4) seropositive goats. The true flock-level seroprevalence of BTV was higher in goats (100.0%, 95% CI = 92.8-100.0) than in sheep (98.8%, 95% CI = 86.6-100.0). The intra-flock seroprevalence within seropositive flocks varied between 36.4% and 100%, with a mean value of 85.5% and 61.9% in sheep and goat flocks, respectively. The logistic regression model revealed that odds of seropositivity for sheep were significantly higher in female animals (OR: 1.8, 95% CI = 1.1-2.9), animals older than 24 months old (OR: 5.8, 95% CI = 3.1-10.8), Pirlak breed (OR: 3.3, 95% CI = 1.1-10.0) and Merino breed (OR: 4.9, 95% CI = 1.6-14.9), whereas for goats, it was higher in female animals (OR: 1.7, 95% CI = 1.0-2.6), animals older than 24 months old (OR: 4.2, 95% CI = 2.7-6.6) and Hair breed (OR: 5.6, 95% CI = 2.8-10.9). The use of insecticides was identified as a protective factor. The present study revealed that BTV infection is widespread in sheep and goats in the Antalya Province. It is recommended to implement biosecurity measures in flocks and use insecticides to mitigate the spread of infection and contact between hosts and vectors.

On-station comparative analysis of reproductive and survival performance between Red Maasai, Dorper, and Merino sheep breeds.

The reproductive performance of ewes and the survivability of lambs to weaning have a critical economic impact on sheep farming worldwide. Further, knowledge of major mortality causes allows an opportunity for improved flock management to evade financial losses. The maximum likelihood estimates for generalised linear mixed models and chi-square test methods were used to examine 971 mating records, 839 and 763 lambs born and weaned (singles or twins) from the Naivasha Sheep and Goats station in Kenya for the years 2011 to 2020 consisting of Dorper, Red Maasai (RedM), and Merino breeds. The RedM (P<0.05) outperformed Dorper and Merino in weaning rate, whereas reproductive performance between the three breeds was not significantly different (P>0.05) in litter size and multiple lambings per ewe lambing. On the one hand, Dorper significantly (P<0.05) outperformed the other two breeds only in weaning weight per lamb born. In addition, among all the major causes of death, pneumonia appeared to be the one to which Dorper breeds were most susceptible (chi-square test, P<0.05). According to the findings of this study, neither the Dorper nor the Merino sheep breeds were reproductively superior to the RedM in an extensive semi-arid production environment. In addition, Dorper's susceptibility to the leading causes of mortality, particularly pneumonia and sheep pox, were relatively high compared to other breeds and could be a precursor to massive economic losses for Dorper sheep producers. In contrast to the indigenous RedM breed, imported sheep breeds appeared to be more susceptible to major mortality-related under an extensive production system. Therefore, regardless of weaning weight, RedM breed production appears to be a more viable investment for small-scale farmers, particularly in semi-arid regions.

O-184 Scrotal circumference as a trait for reproductive selection in white merino breed

O-184 Scrotal circumference as a trait for reproductive selection in white merino breed

P-093 Multivariate analysis of meat from non-pregnant ewes, light lambs of Merino breed

P-093 Multivariate analysis of meat from non-pregnant ewes, light lambs of Merino breed

WOOL PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY OF RUSSIAN MEAT MERINO SHEEP FROM INTRA- AND INTERLINE SELECTION

Line breeding is often used in purebred animal husbandry, although the combination of lines may affect undesirable result. Therefore, it is very important for animal breeders to know which lines of animals can be combined to produce highly productive offspring with high meat and wool properties. This article studies the influence of interline selection of Russian meat merino breed on wool productivity, quality and skin histostructure. We found that the highest clipping was in the animals of group III obtained from ME-50 line rams and AS-30 line ewes. Ewes exceeded their peers of group II from the intraline AC-30 selection and peers of group IV from AS-30 line rams and ME-50 line queens. At the same time, ewes of group III insignificantly exceeded peers of group I from intraline selection of ME-50 line animals by 2.0% (P&gt;0.05). Animals of group III had rather high fleece indices in terms of the wool condition due to the influence of ME-50 rams. Moreover, they had the highest ratio of “fat:sweat” (0.84), which confirms the high technological wool properties of this genotype. The quality of sheepskins depends on the nature of the connection of collagen fibers in the reticular layer. In terms of the thickness of the skin reticular layer young ewes of the group III exceeded their peers in groups I, II and IV by 5.3% (P&gt; 0.05), 21.9% ( P&lt;0.01) and 12.0% (P&lt;0.05) respectively.

A genome-wide search of meat productivity candidate genes in Russian Meat Merino breed

A genome-wide associations study (GWAS) of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) with indicators of meat productivity in Russian Meat Merino was carried out. A new approach is based on the selection of animals for research considered with known productivity genes (MSTN, MYOD1, etc.). Animal genotyping was performed using Ovine Infinium HD BeadChip 600 K (Illumina, USA). As a result, 20 SNPs significantly associated with the body measurements and ultrasound parameters of the animals were identified. Around these SNPs, 14 candidate genes were discovered. Investigated parameters of phenotype can be associated with structural disorders in these genes. Most SNPs were located in the intergenic space, two polymorphisms were located in the Upstream and Downstream regions. One SNP was localized in the intron, two are in the exon of genes. Two substitutions were next to the long non-coding RNA and micro-RNA. The following candidate genes were annotated: ASB3, THADA, PRPS1L1, Ccdc130, MTHFS, RALGAPA1, MEIS1, AKIRIN1, GRXCR1, Lrig1, ANKS1B, CFI, KRAB, and SLCO2B1. These genes are involved in some metabolic processes of cell proliferation and differentiation, function of neurons and immune system. Further research should be oriented to study the structure of these genes and use discovered SNPs as new molecular markers in breeding.

The relationship between the main Sheep breeding traits of the Russian meat merino and Soviet merino breeding

Relevance. Breeding work in animal husbandry can be successful if in result animals with high rates of productivity, required from them economically useful features (EUF), are obtained. Obviously, it is necessary to analyze several EUFs for qualitative assessment of animals. Recently, the knowledge of the regularities of individual development of the organism and their interrelation has become more and more important, it's research is an urgent task. The study of these regularities or combinations between individual phenotypic traits will serve as the basis for the development of a better system of breeding work in sheep breeding. Methodology. The studies were carried out in the Collective stud farm named after Lenin, Stavropol Territory. The object of the research were breeding records of primary zootechnical registers for the last 5 years on elite and first-class animals of fine-wool sheep breeds – Russian meat merino and Soviet merino; their live weight, quantitative and qualitative indicators of wool productivity of different sex and age groups were studied. Results. In our researches it was established that the connection between the length of wool and the trimming both on the group of adult ewes and on the yearlings of Russian meat merino sheep was relatively big – from r = + 0.425 to r = + 0.594 and of the Soviet merino – from r = + 0.280 to r = + 0.592 with high reliability of sampling correlation coefficients in both cases (P &lt; 0,01 and P &lt; 0,001); the correlation of wool cutting in physical weight with indicators of pure fiber turned out to be high – equal to + 0,766 in sheeps of Russian meat merino breed.

Morphostructural Differences between the Historical Genetic Lines of the Spanish Merino Sheep.

The Merino breed, which originates from Spain, is the most emblematic livestock breed in the world, since it is the first with a worldwide extension and has had an important impact on the genetic origin of several of the main current sheep populations. For this reason, it is of vital importance to typify the historical genetic lines of the original Spanish Merino breed and thereby ensure the conservation of its variability. In the present study, we used 337 purebred animals (males and females) registered in the Genealogical Book of the Native Merino Breed. All the animals were descendants of herds from six ancestral genetic lines (Maesso, Egea, Granda, López-Montenegro, Hidalgo, and Donoso). Significant differences were found in all the morphometric traits and indexes between the different genetic lines. Using discriminant analysis, 84% of the animals were classified correctly into their historical genetic lines. Furthermore, the distances between the lines, calculated by a cluster test, showed that Hidalgo, Maesso, and Donoso had the most clearly defined lines, while the Granda, López-Montenegro, and Egea lines were more similar to each other. All this demonstrates the rich genetic variability existing in the genuine gene pool of the Merino sheep breed.

Selection signature analysis and genome-wide divergence of South African Merino breeds from their founders.

Merino sheep are a breed of choice across the world, popularly kept for their wool and mutton value. They are often reared as a pure breed or used in crossbreeding and are a common component in synthetic breed development. This study evaluated genetic diversity, population structure, and breed divergence in 279 animals of Merino and Merino-based sheep breeds in South Africa using the Illumina Ovine SNP 50K BeadChip. The sheep breeds analysed included the three Merino-derived breeds of Dohne Merino (n = 50); Meatmaster (n = 47); and Afrino (n = 52) and five presumed ancestral populations of Merinos (Merino (n = 46); South African Merino (n = 10); and South African Mutton Merino (n = 8)); and the non-Merino founding breeds of Damara (n = 20); Ronderib Afrikaner (n = 17); and Nguni (n = 29). Highest genetic diversity values were observed in the Dohne Merino (DM), with H o = 0.39 ± 0.01, followed by the Meatmaster and South African Merino (SAM), with H o = 0.37 ± 0.03. The level of inbreeding ranged from 0.0 ± 0.02 (DM) to 0.27 ± 0.05 (Nguni). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed high within-population variance (>80%) across all population categories. The first principal component (PC1) separated the Merino, South African Mutton Merino (SAMM), DM, and Afrino (AFR) from the Meatmaster, Damara, Nguni, and Ronderib Afrikaner (RDA). PC2 aligned each Merino-derived breed with its presumed ancestors and separated the SAMM from the Merino and SAM. The iHS analysis yielded selection sweeps across the AFR (12 sweeps), Meatmaster (four sweeps), and DM (29 sweeps). Hair/wool trait genes such as FGF12; metabolic genes of ICA1, NXPH1, and GPR171; and immune response genes of IL22, IL26, IFNAR1, and IL10RB were reported. Other genes include HMGA, which was observed as selection signatures in other populations; WNT5A, important in the development of the skeleton and mammary glands; ANTXR2, associated with adaptation to variation in climatic conditions; and BMP2, which has been reported as strongly selected in both fat-tailed and thin-tailed sheep. The DM vs. SAMM shared all six sweep regions on chromosomes 1, 10, and 11 with AFR vs. SAMM. Genes such as FGF12 on OAR 1:191.3-194.7Mb and MAP2K4 on OAR 11:28.6-31.3Mb were observed. The selection sweep on chromosome 10 region 28.6-30.3Mb harbouring the RXFP2 for polledness was shared between the DM vs. Merino, the Meatmaster vs. Merino, and the Meatmaster vs. Nguni. The DM vs. Merino and the Meatmaster vs. Merino also shared an Rsb-based selection sweep on chromosome 1 region 268.5-269.9Mb associated with the Calpain gene, CAPN7. The study demonstrated some genetic similarities between the Merino and Merino-derived breeds emanating from common founding populations and some divergence driven by breed-specific selection goals. Overall, information regarding the evolution of these composite breeds from their founding population will guide future breed improvement programs and management and conservation efforts.

ГЕНЕТИЧЕСКИЙ ПОЛИМОРФИЗМ ГЕНОВ GH, GDF9 У ОВЕЦ ПОРОДЫ РОССИЙСКИЙ МЯСНОЙ МЕРИНОС

The article presents the results of PCR-RFLP analysis of the genotype distribution of the GH and GDF9 genes in sheep of the Russian meat merino breed (n = 100), bred in the conditions of the Stavropol Territory. The most popular are genetic markers that are interconnected with candidate genes, the protein products of which play a signifi cant role in the formation or regulation of physiological and biochemical processes. Using the PCR-RFLP methods, the specifi city of the allelic spectrum of the somatotropin and differential growth factor genes was established.

ТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ АСПЕКТЫ ПОВЫШЕНИЯ ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТИ ПЕРЕРАБОТКИ БАРАНИНЫ

Modern animal husbandry imposes increasingly stringent requirements for assessing the productivity of animals, therefore, an urgent task is to increase the indicators of meat productivity. The study of the economic and biological characteristics of sheep and the rational use of their genetic potential in the production of competitive mutton and its processed products is characterized by relevance and requires extensive study and scientific and industrial justification. The development of functional food products of a new generation is an innovative direction in the food industry, which is of extremely important practical importance and social efficiency. An increase in the degree of adequacy and balance of the composition of food products can be achieved only due to their multicomponence. On the basis of theoretical generalizations and experimental studies in the laboratory of molecular genetic expertise and at the Department of Food Technologies of the Don State Agrarian University, technological aspects of improving the efficiency of processing lamb meat have been developed, allowing for a scientifically sound way to carry out the process of regulating the composition and properties of functional food products in the process of their production. The evaluation of slaughter indicators, the analysis of functional and technological properties of sheep meat of the Soviet Merino breed was carried out. The dose of introducing the protein module to the level of VUS and ZHUS of model minced meat was determined, and subsequently a recipe for cutlets with the introduction of a protein module was developed. An organoleptic evaluation of the control and test sample was carried out, and the content of amino acids was also studied. The objects of the study were minced meat systems based on minced lamb of the Soviet merino breed of the Hashun type, as well as chopped semi-finished products with the introduction of a multicomponent protein mixture into the formulation. Thus, the formulation and characteristics of the nutritional value of chopped semi-finished products based on lamb, with a multicomponent protein mixture for functional nutrition, have been developed.

NEW CANDIDATE GENES ASSOCIATED WITH SHOULDER HEIGHT OF SHEEP OF RUSSIAN MEAT MERINO BREED

The search for candidate genes and genetic markers associated with economically valuable traits of productive animals is of great scientific and practical importance for the agro-industrial complex. Of particular interest are studies aimed at finding associations for parametres which characterize features of build and growth of animals. The aim of this work was to search for single nucleotide polymorphisms and candidate genes associated with height at the shoulder, one of the main measurements that allows to judge the conformation characteristics of sheep. The object of the study was 12-month-old Russian Merino meat rams (n = 50), bred on the Stavropol Territory. Animal genotyping was performed using DNA biochips of Ovine Infinium HD BeadChip 600K; genome-wide association analysis was performed using PLINK V.1.07 software. In the course of the work done, significant associations were found between the height at the shoulder and single nucleotide substitutions of 3, 10 and 18 chromosomes of sheep of Russian meat merino breed. Polymorphisms are located in the region of introns of protein-coding genes (rs422409900, rs413412092) and intergenic regions (rs414158152, rs430384069, rs415673748). A negative regression coefficient is observed in five analyzed substitutions. Location of analyzed substitutions in relation to the latest Oar_rambouillet_v1.0 genome annotation allowed to reveal 4 new candidate genes associated with height at the shoulder of sheep: RALGAPA1, MEIS1, AFTPH, SLC25A21. Further studies should be aimed at confirming the effect of the proposed candidate genes on the phenotype of animals, as well as confirming the relationship of rs414158152, rs430384069, rs42240990, rs415673748, and rs413412092 polymorphisms with conformation parametres of sheep.

Position of Hungarian Merino among other Merinos, within-breed genetic similarity network and markers associated with daily weight gain.

In this study, we aimed to position the Hungarian Merino among other Merino-derived sheep breeds, explore the characteristics of our sampled animals' genetic similarity network within the breed, and highlight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with daily weight-gain. Hungarian Merino (n = 138) was genotyped on Ovine SNP50 Bead Chip (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) and positioned among 30 Merino and Merino-derived breeds (n = 555). Population characteristics were obtained via PLINK, SVS, Admixture, and Treemix software, within-breed network was analysed with python networkx 2.3 library. Daily weight gain of Hungarian Merino was standardised to 60 days and was collected from the database of the Association of Hungarian Sheep and Goat Breeders. For the identification of loci associated with daily weight gain, a multi-locus mixed-model was used. Supporting the breed's written history, the closest breeds to Hungarian Merino were Estremadura and Rambouillet (pairwise FST values are 0.035 and 0.036, respectively). Among Hungarian Merino, a highly centralised connectedness has been revealed by network analysis of pairwise values of identity-by-state, where the animal in the central node had a betweenness centrality value equal to 0.936. Probing of daily weight gain against the SNP data of Hungarian Merinos revealed five associated loci. Two of them, OAR8_17854216.1 and s42441.1 on chromosome 8 and 9 (-log10P>22, false discovery rate<5.5e-20) and one locus on chromosome 20, s28948.1 (-log10P = 13.46, false discovery rate = 4.1e-11), were close to the markers reported in other breeds concerning daily weight gain, six-month weight, and post-weaning gain. The position of Hungarian Merino among other Merino breeds has been determined. We have described the similarity network of the individuals to be applied in breeding practices and highlighted several markers useful for elevating the daily weight gain of Hungarian Merino.

Detection of selection signatures in South African Mutton Merino sheep using whole-genome sequencing data.

The South African Mutton Merino (SAMM), a dual-purpose (meat and wool) sheep breed, is characterized by its excellent performance on growth, carcass traits and meat quality compared to other fine-wool Merino breeds. Nowadays, the SAMM breed has been widely used to cross with commercial and indigenous fine-wool or coarse-wool breeds to improve the growth and meat performance in many countries. To date, however, little is known about the genetic basis for its prominent characteristics. In this study, whole-genome sequences of 10 SAMM were sequenced and the selection signatures were analyzed together with those of 39 Australian Merino and Chinese Merino (wool-type Merino) by FST , iHS, and XP-EHH methods. In total, 313genes in 277 regions were identified by at least 2methods with the signal of selection and 21 of them were identified by all three methods. We highlighted a list of interesting genes, including GHR, LCORL, SMO, NCAPG, DCC, IBSP, PPARGC1A, PACRGL, PRDM5, XYLB, AHCYL2, TEFM, AFG1L, and FAM184B, which have been shown to be involved in growth, carcass traits, and meat quality by previous studies. Herein, GHR, encoding a transmembrane receptor for growth hormone, is the most notable one. We report the first study on selection signatures analysis of SAMM at whole-genome sequence level. These results provide new insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying the growth and carcass traits in SAMM.

The genomic structure of isolation across breed, country and strain for important South African and Australian sheep populations

BackgroundSouth Africa and Australia shares multiple important sheep breeds. For some of these breeds, genomic breeding values are provided to breeders in Australia, but not yet in South Africa. Combining genomic resources could facilitate development for across country selection, but the influence of population structures could be important to the compatability of genomic data from varying origins. The genetic structure within and across breeds, countries and strains was evaluated in this study by population genomic parameters derived from SNP-marker data. Populations were first analysed by breed and country of origin and then by subpopulations of South African and Australian Merinos.ResultsMean estimated relatedness according to the genomic relationship matrix varied by breed (-0.11 to 0.16) and bloodline (-0.08 to 0.06) groups and depended on co-ancestry as well as recent genetic links. Measures of divergence across bloodlines (FST: 0.04–0.12) were sometimes more distant than across some breeds (FST: 0.05–0.24), but the divergence of common breeds from their across-country equivalents was weak (FST: 0.01–0.04). According to mean relatedness, FST, PCA and Admixture, the Australian Ultrafine line was better connected to the SA Cradock Fine Wool flock than with other AUS bloodlines. Levels of linkage disequilibrium (LD) between adjacent markers was generally low, but also varied across breeds (r2: 0.14–0.22) as well as bloodlines (r2: 0.15–0.19). Patterns of LD decay was also unique to breeds, but bloodlines differed only at the absolute level. Estimates of effective population size (Ne) showed genetic diversity to be high for the majority of breeds (Ne: 128–418) but also for bloodlines (Ne: 137–369).ConclusionsThis study reinforced the genetic complexity and diversity of important sheep breeds, especially the Merino breed. The results also showed that implications of isolation can be highly variable and extended beyond breed structures. However, knowledge of useful links across these population substructures allows for a fine-tuned approach in the combination of genomic resources. Isolation across country rarely proved restricting compared to other structures considered. Consequently, research into the accuracy of across-country genomic prediction is recommended.

ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТЬ ВВОДНОГО СКРЕЩИВАНИЯ ОВЕЦ ПОРОДЫ МАНЫЧСКИЙ МЕРИНОС С БАРАНАМИ АВСТРАЛИЙСКИЙ МЯСНОЙ МЕРИНОС

The article presents data on the productive indicators of sheep of the Manych merino breed and crossbreeds with the blood of rams of the Australian meat merino breed.

АЛЛЕЛЬНЫЕ И ГЕНОТИПИЧЕСКИЕ ВАРИАНТЫ ПОЛИМОРФИЗМА ГЕНОВ GH, GDF9 У ОВЕЦ ПОРОДЫ МАНЫЧСКИЙ МЕРИНОС

The article presents the results of genotyping of sheep of the Manych Merino breed. Using PCR-RFLP analysis, the specificity of the allelic spectrum of the GH and GDF9 genes, which regulate growth processes and affect meat productivity, was established, expressed in different frequencies of alleles and genotypes.

The Influence of Seasonal Factors on the Quantitative and Qualitative Parameters of Ram Semen of the Dzhalginsky Merino Breed

The Influence of Seasonal Factors on the Quantitative and Qualitative Parameters of Ram Semen of the Dzhalginsky Merino Breed