Judul: Determination of FREM2 Gene Diversity and Association with Meat Quality in Balinese Cattle Using Ultrasonography Image.
Abstrak: Sapi Bali adalah salah satu plasma nutfah yang berasal dari pulau Bali dan diakui oleh FAO sebagai bangsa sapi Indonesia melalui Keputusan Menteri Pertanian Nomor: 325/Kpts/OT.140/1/2010 dengan penyebaran populasi di seluruh wilayah Indonesia. Sapi Bali merupakan salah satu sapi pedaging asli Indonesia yang memiliki keanekaragaman tinggi dan sebagai sumber daya genetik ternak asli Indonesia. Gen FREM2 adalah salah satu gen yang bertanggung jawab mengontrol kualitas daging pada sapi. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah menentukan keragaman gen FREM2 dan asosiasi terhadap kualitas daging pada sapi Bali menggunakan citra ultrasonografi. Total ternak yang digunakan sebanyak 93 ekor, 55 ekor berasal dari RPH Banjarmasin, Kalimantan Selatan, Indonesia, 28 ekor bearsal dari Pusat Pembibitan Sapi Bali di Provinsi Bali dan 10 ekor berasal dari UPTD Kabupaten Kupang, NTT Indonesia. Identifikasi SNP gen FREM2 dilakukan dengan teknik sekuensing, kemudian dilanjutkan dengan teknik PCR-RFLP untuk mendapatkan keragaman. Keragaman gen FREM2 dianalisis dengan program Bioedit dan PopGen 1.32 Asosiasi SNP gen FREM2 dengan karakteristik karkas dan daging dianalisis menggunakan metode General Linier Model (GLM) menggunakan program SPSS software versi 22. Karakteristik karkas (longissimus dorsi; tebal lemak punggung) dan daging (lemak intramuskular; skor marbling) diidentifikasi secara non-invasif dengan menggunakan citra ultrasonografi, selanjutnya dianalisis dengan software Image-J NIH. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ditemukan SNP g.89327G>A di ekson 6 gen FREM2 dan tidak merubah asam amino (proline→proline) pada sapi Bali. Hasil genotiping dengan teknik PCR-RFLP SNP g.89327G>A gen FREM2|BccI memiliki keragaman tinggi yaitu alel A dan G masing-masing 0.747 dan 0.253. Keragaman SNP g.89327G>A berasosiasi nyata (P<0.05) dengan tebal longissimus dorsi (LDT), sedangkan tebal lemak punggung (BFT), lemak intramuskular (IMF) dan skor marling (MS) tidak berbeda. Dengan demikian, SNP g.89327G>A di ekson 6 gen FREM2 dapat dijadikan sebagai kandidat marka genetik kualitas karkas pada sapi Bali
Keyword: Gen FREM2, kualitas karkas dan daging, sapi Bali, SNP

Judul: Analysis of Meat Quality Determinants Genes as Markers of Premium Meat  Producing  in  Bali  Cattle
Abstrak: Bali cattle are native Indonesian livestock genetic resources (AnGR) that have been domesticated from Banteng. Bali cattle should be maintained and preserved for future use because they have the potential to become premium quality beef cattle. Bali cattle's potential can be increased through selection based on genetic markers or marker-assisted selection (MAS), which produces more accurate, effective, and efficient results. The process can be applied to candidate genes related to meat quality. Calpain1 (CAPN1), fatty acid banding protein-4 (FABP4), sterol regulating element binding protein-1 (SREBF1), and scavenger receptor class B member 1 (SCARB1). The purpose of this study is to analize candidate genes that determine beef quality through analysis of gene diversity using DNA sequencing methods and to associate gene diversity with quality characteristics of Bali beef from Kupang, as well as to analyze CAPN1 gene expression. In this study, 95 Bali cattle were used. Meat samples were used for physical analysis and fatty acid composition, and blood samples were used to identify the diversity of the CAPN1, FABP4, SREBF1, and SCARB1 genes using the direct-sequencing method. Analysis of CAPN1 gene expression in Bali cattle liver and blood tissue. Six novel SNPs were discovered for the CAPN1 gene, four for the FABP4 and SREBF1 genes, and five for the SCARB1 gene in Bali cattle as a result of the analysis of gene diversity. The marbling score, intramuscular fat, pH, meat color, tenderness (WBSF), and fatty acid composition were associated with the CAPN1 gene (g.5327C>T, g.5869T>C, and g.5959C>T), according to the results of the association analysis. The FABP4 gene (g.5002C>T) was significantly associated with carcass characteristics including longissimus dorsi thickness (TLD). SREBF1 gene (g.12629T>C, g.12731T>C, g.12881A>G, and g.12986C>T) had an association with fatty acid composition. The SCARB1 gene (g.72219C>T, g.72380C>A, g.72400A>G, g.72517G>A and g.72607C>T) were significantly associated with fatty acid composition. The results of gene expression analysis showed that the low tenderness value (WBSF) was characterized by a higher CAPN1 gene expression level. The results of this study can be concluded that the CAPN1, FABP4, SREBF1, and SCARB1 genes are potential candidate genes to be used as genetic markers for selection of meat quality traits in Bali cattle., Sapi Bali merupakan sumber daya genetik ternak (SDGT) asli indonesia yang telah mengalami proses domestikasi dari Banteng. Sapi Bali berpotensi untuk dikembangkan sebagai sapi pedaging kualitas premium, oleh karena itu perlu dipertahankan dan dilestarikan untuk dimanfaatkan secara berkelanjutan. Potensi sapi Bali dapat ditingkatkan melalui seleksi berdasarkan marka genetik atau marker assisted selection (MAS) yang hasilnya lebih akurat, efektif dan efisien. Proses seleksi dapat dilakukan pada kandidat gen-gen yang berkaitan dengan kualitas daging. Beberapa gen yang potensial untuk diseleksi antara lain: gen calpain1 (CAPN1), gen fatty acid banding protein-4 (FABP4), gen sterol regulating element binding protein-1 (SREBF1), dan scavenger reseptor class B member 1 (SCARB1). Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis karakteristik karkas dan daging berdasarkan teknik ultrasonografi, sifat fisik, dan profil asam lemak daging sapi Bali, mengkarakterisasi kandidat gen penentu kualitas daging sapi melalui analisis keragaman gen dengan metode sekuensing DNA dan mengasosiasikan keragaman gen dengan sifat kualitas daging sapi Bali dari Kupang, serta menganalisis ekspresi gen
Keyword: bali cattle, gene expression, meat quality, ultrasound

Judul: Impact Of water policy on poverty reduction and women roles in water management In Zimbabwe
Abstrak: Water management is a key factor in the battle to remove the scourge of extreme poverty and to build secure and prosperous lives for people in the developing world. The water sector in Zimbabwe is complicated by the large number of actors; it is interwoven within various ministries. The research used secondary data and review of literature to evaluate how the current water policy has contributed towards marginalising women and the poor. It looked at how actors can also marginalise or put other actors at risk thereby undermining their role through prioritisation of certain projects, stakeholder participation and usage policy. From a descriptive analysis it is found that women are further relegated and marginalised. The poor are further impoverished through marginalisation and vulnerability. The policy environment favours business and state interests against those of grassroots actors and women. It recommends the establishment of home grown pro- poor water management strategies.
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