ANSC 3316 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Gestation, Beef Cattle, Neurohormone
Document Summary
Regulatory biology: need an effective communication system, need system to respond to change in environment. External: need a system that is coordinated. If system is disturbed, coordinated response in the body occurs to maintain the steady state: homeorhesis. Coordinated redirection of resources to set new homeostatic conditions. Establishment of new" homeostasis based on a change of physiological state within the animal. Example onset of lactation and onset of pregnancy. Pregnancy = huge shift in resources from everything else to the production of the offspring. Onset of lactation in cows a very extreme example of homeorhesis. + body uses so much energy to produce milk, body is secondary". + eat a lot, take stored fat in body and use it for milk production. Beef cattle have trouble back-breeding after lactation; body has more of an issue bouncing back. + beef cattle giving birth in the spring is an important management tool, so this is vitally important: chemical communicators.
