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Two groups of cows will be grazed for 1-month long periods in paddocks of two different sward types: perennial ryegrass monoculture (PRG) and a multi-species sward (MSS) comprising of PRG, timothy, white and red clovers, chicory, and plantain. The Grass Is Greener project will assess cow behaviour on these different sward types and evaluate any impacts on cow welfare via leg mounted accelerometers, fitted on all cows as standard farm practice.

Between these month-long grazing periods, all cows will be given the choice of both sward types (MIX), with their behaviour and welfare being assessed again, as well as their location recorded (PRG or MSS) to assess preference.

The Grass Is Greener project would collect additional data from an existing European funded grazing project, Re-Livestock, taking place at SRUC’s Barony campus.

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Parasitic worm infections in dairy cattle is often considered a first grazing season problem, however sub-clinical infections in lactating animals can negatively impact milk production. Currently parasitic nematodes in dairy cattle are controlled using drugs, however long-term use of these drugs has resulted in worm resistance, making the treatments less-effective. Long-term, vaccination against these parasites will provide a means of effective and sustainable parasite control. This project will use high-throughput screening of parasitic worm proteins to identify potential vaccine candidates. The screen will identify worm proteins that are recognised by dairy cattle that show resistance to parasite challenge and assess their potential for incorporation into a vaccine. This work will lead the way to the development of a worm-vaccine to protect dairy cattle against parasitic worm challenge.

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Fungi are a known cause of mastitis in cattle. Despite this, fungal milk communities associated with development of intramammary infections are under researched. Mastitis is one of the most common and costly diseases in dairying, particularly due to decreased production in subclinical cases. Commonly, broad-spectrum antibiotics are used in treatment and may lead to an unbalanced milk microbial community (microbiome), potentially allowing for overgrowth of mastitis-causing fungi. This research aims to explore the microbiome associated with healthy and mastitic (clinical and subclinical) milk, with a focus on fungi and bacterial-fungi interactions, and implications of repeated antibiotic usage. This work will contribute to a knowledge gap in dairying, by i) identifying potential milk microbiome biomarkers relating to health status, ii) providing evidence for pre/probiotic development, iii) exploring whether repeated antibiotic usage impacts upon microbiome communities and reoccurrence of mastitis. This knowledge could help farmers and industry in tackling a global issue.

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Intramammary infections of ruminant livestock impact animal health, welfare, and the economics of the dairy industry worldwide. A major hurdle to studying the ruminant mammary gland is the lack of in vitro tools to perform research on the mammary response to infection under laboratory conditions. Here, we propose to develop ruminant derived three-dimensional culture models (“organoids”) which represent the internal cellular structure of the mammary gland. Firstly, we will establish a tissue bank from non-lactating and lactating sheep and cow at different ages and various stages of the lactation cycle. Secondly, we will identify a panel of ruminant epithelial cell-type specific antibody markers using the tissue sections from lactating and non-lactating cows and sheep. Thirdly, we will use the panel of basal and luminal epithelium-specific antibody markers to define the structural and cellular organization in mammary epithelial organoids. We will induce lactation by hormonal stimulation of the organoids and characterize the response by gene expression and proteomic analysis. Finally, we will demonstrate the utility of ruminant mammary organoids as a model for intramammary bacterial infection. This will provide a well characterized laboratory tool in support of the development of new mastitis control measures.

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