Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T16:19:28.559Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Genetic analysis of visual assessment and body weight traits and their relationships with reproductive traits in Nellore cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2017

F. M. PATERNO
Affiliation:
Departamento de Zootecnia, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n, Jaboticabal, São Paulo, 14884-900, Brazil
M. E. BUZANSKAS*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB), Centro de Ciências Agrárias – Campus II, Rodovia BR 079 – Km 12, Areia, Paraíba, 58397-000, Brazil
W. KOURY FILHO
Affiliation:
Brasil com Z – Zootecnia Tropical, Rua Juca Quito, 800 – Sala 5, Jaboticabal, São Paulo, 14870-260, Brazil
R. B. LÔBO
Affiliation:
Associação Nacional de Criadores e Pesquisadores (ANCP), Rua João Godoy, 463, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, 14020-230, Brazil
S. A. QUEIROZ
Affiliation:
Departamento de Zootecnia, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n, Jaboticabal, São Paulo, 14884-900, Brazil
*
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Email: [email protected]

Summary

Genetic parameters for visual assessment traits measured at 487 days of age (body structure (BS), finishing precocity (FP) and muscling (MS)), body weight at 450 days of age (W450), age at first calving (AFC), heifer pregnancy (HP) and stayability (STAY, i.e. the probability of a cow to produce at least three calves before reaching 76 months of age) were estimated in Nellore cattle, seeking to include these traits in the selection criteria for dams. The statistical models included additive genetic and residual random effects using single- and two-trait Bayesian analyses. The average heritability estimates were equal to 0·37 for BS, 0·42 for FP, 0·37 for MS and 0·48 for W450. Age at first calving had a low average heritability estimate (0·13), while HP and STAY estimates were higher (0·36 and 0·24, respectively). The genetic correlations between AFC, HP and STAY with visual assessment traits and body weight were favourable, indicating that selecting animals with higher BS, FP, MS and W450 values will result in the indirect selection of animals with lower AFC and successful scores for HP and STAY. The selection of heifers that present an early pregnancy should anticipate AFC and improve HP in the current herd. Except for AFC, the heritability and genetic correlation estimates between the studied traits justify their inclusion in the selection criteria of the Nellore breeding programme.

Type
Animal Research Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bernardes, P. A., Grossi, D. A., Savegnago, R. P., Buzanskas, M. E., Urbinati, I., Bezerra, L. A. F., Lôbo, R. B. & Munari, D. P. (2015). Estimates of genetic parameters and genetic trends for reproductive traits and weaning weight in Tabapuã cattle. Journal of Animal Science 93, 51755185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boligon, A. A. & Albuquerque, L. G. (2011). Genetic parameters and relationships of heifer pregnancy and age at first calving with weight gain, yearling and mature weight in Nelore cattle. Livestock Science 141, 1216.Google Scholar
Boligon, A. A., Albuquerque, L. G. & Rorato, P. R. N. (2008). Associações genéticas entre pesos e características reprodutivas em rebanhos da raça Nelore. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia 37, 596601.Google Scholar
Boligon, A. A., Albuquerque, L. G., Mercadante, M. E. Z. & Lôbo, R. B. (2010). Study of relations among age at first calving, average weight gains and weights from weaning to maturity in Nellore cattle. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia 39, 746751.Google Scholar
Buzanskas, M. E., Grossi, D. A., Baldi, F., Barrozo, D., Silva, L. O. C., Torres, R. A. A. Jr., Munari, D. P. & Alencar, M. M. (2010). Genetic associations between stayability and reproductive and growth traits in Canchim beef cattle. Livestock Science 132, 107112.Google Scholar
Doyle, S. P., Golden, B. L., Green, R. D. & Brinks, J. S. (2000). Additive genetic parameter estimates for heifer pregnancy and subsequent reproduction in Angus females. Journal of Animal Science 78, 20912098.Google Scholar
Eler, J. P., Bignardi, A. B., Ferraz, J. B. S. & Santana, J. L. (2014). Genetic relationships among traits related to reproduction and growth of Nelore females. Theriogenology 82, 708714.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Faria, C. U., Magnabosco, C. U., Albuquerque, L. G., Bezerra, L. A. F. & Lôbo, R. B. (2009). Avaliação genética de características de escores visuais de bovinos da raça Nelore da desmama até a maturidade. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia 38, 11911200.Google Scholar
Faria, C. U., Pires, B. C., Vozzi, A. P., Magnabosco, C. U., Koury Filho, W., Viu, M. A. O., Oliveira, H. N. & Lôbo, R. B. (2010). Genetic correlations between categorical morphological traits in Nelore cattle by applying Bayesian analysis under a threshold animal model. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 127, 377384.Google Scholar
Geweke, J. (1992). Evaluating the accuracy of sampling-based approaches to calculating posterior moments. In Bayesian Statistics 4 (Eds Bernardo, J. M., Berger, J. O., Dawid, A. P. & Smith, A. F. M.), pp. 169193. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Grossi, D. A., Venturini, G. C., Paz, C. C. P., Bezerra, L. A. F., Lôbo, R. B., Oliveira, J. A. & Munari, D. P. (2009). Genetic associations between age at first calving and heifer body weight and scrotal circumference in Nelore cattle. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 126, 387393.Google Scholar
Guarini, A. R., Neves, H. H. R., Schenkel, F. S., Carvalheiro, R., Oliveira, J. A. & Queiroz, S. A. (2015). Genetic relationship among reproductive traits in Nellore cattle. Animal 9, 760765.Google Scholar
Guidolin, D. G. F., Buzanskas, M. E., Ramos, S. B., Venturini, G. C., Lôbo, R. B., Paz, C. C. P., Munari, D. P. & Oliveira, J. A. (2012). Genotype – environment interaction for post-weaning traits in Nellore beef cattle. Animal Production Science 52, 975980.Google Scholar
Heidelberger, P. & Welch, P. D. (1983). Simulation run length control in the presence of an initial transient. Operations Research 31, 11091144.Google Scholar
Hudson, G. F. S. & Van Vleck, L. D. (1981). Relations between production and stayability in Holstein cattle. Journal of Dairy Science 64, 22462250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koury Filho, W., Albuquerque, L. G., Forni, S., Silva, J. A. Ii. V., Yokoo, M. J. & Alencar, M. M. (2010). Estimativas de parâmetros genéticos para os escores visuais e suas associações com peso corporal em bovinos de corte. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia 39, 10151022.Google Scholar
Loaiza-Echeverri, A. M., Toral, F. L. B., Bergmann, J. A. G., Osorio, J. P., Carmo, A. S. & Henry, M. (2013). Selection criteria for sexual precocity in Guzerat bulls raised under grazing conditions. Journal of Animal Science 91, 46334640.Google Scholar
Lopes, F. B., Magnabosco, C. U., Paulini, F., Silva, M. C., Miyagi, E. S. & Lôbo, R. B. (2013). Genetic analysis of growth traits in polled Nellore cattle raised on pasture in tropical region using Bayesian approaches. PLoS ONE 8, e75423. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0075423 Google Scholar
Martinez, G. E., Koch, R. M., Cundiff, L. V., Gregory, K. E. & Van Vleck, L. D. (2004). Genetic parameters for six measures of length of productive life and three measures of lifetime production by 6 yr after first calving for Hereford cows. Journal of Animal Science 82, 19121918.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Montaldo, H. H., Casas, E., Ferraz, J. B. S., Vega-Murillo, V. E. & Roman-Ponce, S. I. (2012). Opportunities and challenges from the use of genomic selection for beef cattle breeding in Latin America. Animal Frontiers 2, 2329.Google Scholar
Moreira, H. L., Buzanskas, M. E., Munari, D. P., Canova, É. B., Lôbo, R. B. & Paz, C. C. P. (2015). Reproductive traits selection in Nelore beef cattle. Ciência e Agrotecnologia 39, 355362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Queiroz, S. A., Oliveira, J. A., Costa, G. Z. & Fries, L. A. (2013). Efeitos ambientais e genéticos sobre escores visuais e ganho em peso ao sobreano de bovinos Brangus. Archivos de Zootecnia 62, 111121.Google Scholar
Silva, J. A. Ii. V., Eler, J. P., Ferraz, J. B. S., Golden, B. L. & Oliveira, H. N. (2003). Heritability estimate for stayability in Nelore cows. Livestock Production Science 79, 97101.Google Scholar
Silva, J. A. Ii. V., Formigoni, I. B., Eler, J. P. & Ferraz, J. B. S. (2006). Genetic relationship among stayability, scrotal circumference and post-weaning weight in Nelore cattle. Livestock Science 99, 5159.Google Scholar
Silva, T. B. R., Araújo, C. V., Bittencourt, T. C. B. S. C., Araújo, S. I., Lôbo, R. B., Bezerra, L. A. F., Silva, D. A. & Silva, A. A. (2013). Use of orthogonal functions in random regression models in describing genetic variance in Nellore cattle. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia 42, 254258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silva, R. M. O., Boligon, A. A., Fernandes, A. R., Filho, A. E. V., El Faro, L., Tonhati, H., Albuquerque, L. G. & Fraga, A. B. (2016). Estimates of genetic parameters for stayability and their associations with traits of economic interest in Gir dairy cows. Genetics and Molecular Research 15 gmr.15016958. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.4238/gmr.15016958 Google Scholar
Smith, B. J. (2007). boa: an R package for MCMC output convergence assessment and posterior inference. Journal of Statistical Software 21, 137.Google Scholar
Terakado, A. P. N., Pereira, M. C., Yokoo, M. J. & Albuquerque, L. G. (2015). Evaluation of productivity of sexually precocious Nelore heifers. Animal 9, 938943.Google Scholar
Tsuruta, S. & Misztal, I. (2006). THRGIBBS1F90 for estimation of variance components with threshold-linear model. In Proceedings of the 8th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, pp. 11561165. Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil: Instituto Prociência.Google Scholar
Valente, T. S., Sant'Anna, A. C., Baldi, F., Albuquerque, L. G. & Costa, M. J. R. P. (2015). Genetic association between temperament and sexual precocity indicator traits in Nellore cattle. Journal of Applied Genetics 56, 349354.Google Scholar
Van Melis, M. H., Eler, J. P., Rosa, G. J. M., Ferraz, J. B. S., Figueiredo, L. G. G., Mattos, E. C. & Oliveira, H. N. (2010). Additive genetic relationships between scrotal circumference, heifer pregnancy and stayability in Nellore cattle. Journal of Animal Science 88, 38093813.Google Scholar
Vargas, G., Buzanskas, M. E., Guidolin, D. G. F., Grossi, D. A., Bonifácio, A. S., Lôbo, R. B., Fonseca, R., Oliveira, J. A. & Munari, D. P. (2014). Genetic parameter estimation for pre- and post-weaning traits in Brahman cattle in Brazil. Tropical Animal Health and Production 46, 12711278.Google Scholar