PHYSIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF AUTOCHTHONOUS CATTLE BREEDS OF NORTHERN ITALY

This PhD project is focused on the physiological characterization of some autochthonous bovine breeds of Northern Italy, using many biological parameters in order to make a comparison with the cosmopolitan breeds. Despite the lower milk production, these breeds present other interesting and peculiar features, such as rusticity, frugality, good food conversion, high product quality (milk and meat), good fertility and good resistance and resilience against the diseases. We applied a multidisciplinary approach to study the physiological bases of the interesting traits present in the local breeds, studying three main issues: the metabolism of the transition period, the milk composition and technological properties and the ethological traits. a) Biodiversity of the transition period i) Study of the milk ketone bodies assessment in Modenese breed and Holstein with a characterization of physiological, reproductive and productive performances. The objective of this study was to characterize some productive, reproductive and metabolic parameters (ketone bodies) in the Italian autochthonous cattle breed Modenese, comparing them with those of Holstein and their crossbred (F1=Modenese x Holstein; F2=Modenese x F1) breed in the same farm, in order to understand if there is a different metabolic picture that can influence the reproductive performances. Milk samples have been collected at different times of lactation (20, 40, and 90 days in milk (DIM)) and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to obtain the the concentration of ketone bodies. In all time points, the Modenese breed showed a significant (p<0,05) lower concentration of ketone bodies. The F1, F2 and Modenese showed also better reproductive performances when compared to Holstein, with a significant lower (p