scholarly journals Uterine and Postnatal Maternal Effects in Mice Selected for Differential Rate of Early Development

Genetics ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 153 (2) ◽  
pp. 905-917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian K Rhees ◽  
Cynthia A Ernst ◽  
Christina H Miao ◽  
William R Atchley

Abstract A series of mouse lines was produced by long-term restricted index selection for divergent rate of growth during early and late postnatal development. The selection program was based on the following treatments: E+ and E- lines were selected to alter birth to 10-day weight gain while holding late gain for both lines constant and a control line was established via random selection. Using embryo transfer and crossfostering methodology, we partitioned postnatal growth for E+, E-, and C lines into progeny genetic, uterine maternal, and nurse maternal components. Selection for differential early growth resulted in correlated response in uterine and nurse maternal effects on body weights, with significant genetic-by-environment interactions. Significant uterine effects were also observed in tail length measurements. Direct uterine effects on body weight were relatively small and resulted in growth rate differences early in development. Nurse effects were large, resulting in modification of progeny growth trajectory especially during early postnatal development. Genetic-by-uterine interactions were large and demonstrate progeny-specific effects of the prenatal uterine environment.

1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. D. Cameron ◽  
M. K. Curran

AbstractResponses to divergent selection for lean growth rate with ad-libitum feeding (LGA), for lean food conversion (LFC) and for daily food intake (DFI) in Landrace pigs were studied. Selection was practised for four generations with a generation interval ofl year. A total of 2642 pigs were performance tested in the high, low and control lines, with an average of 37 boars and 39 gilts performance tested per selection line in each generation. The average within-line inbreeding coefficient at generation four was equal to 0·04. There was one control line for the DFI and LFC selection groups and another control line for the LGA selection group. Animals were performance tested in individual pens with mean starting and finishing weights of 30 kg and 85 kg respectively with ad-libitum feeding. The selection criteria had phenotypic s.d. of 32, 29 and 274 units, for LGA, LFC and DFI, respectively, and results are presented in phenotypic s.d.Cumulative selection differentials (CSD) were 5·1, 4·5 and 5·5 phenotypic s.d. for LGA, LFC and DFI, respectively. Direct responses to selection were 1·4,1·1 and 0·9 (s.e. 0·20) for LGA, LFC and DFI. In each of the three selection groups, the CSD and direct responses to selection were symmetric about the control lines. The correlated response in LFC (1·1, s.e. 0·19) with selection on LGA was equal to the direct response in LFC. In contrast, the direct response in LGA was greater than the correlated response (0·7, s.e. 0·18) with selection on LFC. There was a negative correlated response in DFI (-0·6, s.e. 0·18) with selection on LFC, but the response with selection on LGA was not significant (0·2, s.e. 0·16).Heritabilities for LGA, LFC and DFI ivere 0·25, 0·25 and 0·18 (s.e. 0·03), when estimated by residual maximum likelihood, with common environmental effects of 0·12 (s.e. 0·02). Genetic correlations for LFC with LGA and DFI were respectively positive (0·87, s.e. 0·02) and negative (-0·36, s.e. 0·09), while the genetic correlation between DFI and LGA was not statistically different from zero, 0·13 (s.e. 0·10). Selection on components of efficient lean growth has identified LGA as an effective selection objective for improving both LGA and LFC, without a reduction in DFI.


2001 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Chen ◽  
T. J. Baas ◽  
J. C. M. Dekkers ◽  
L. L. Christian

Selection for lean growth rate (LGR) was conducted for four generations in a synthetic line of Yorkshire-Meishan pigs to study the effectiveness of selection for LGR and correlated responses in litter traits. Lean growth rate was estimated from ultrasound measurements of 10th-rib backfat thickness and longissimus muscle area. In the selection line, 7 boars and 20 gilts with the highest LGR were selected to produce the next generation. The generation interval was 13 mo and the average selection differential per generation was 1.1 phenotypic standard deviation units. A contemporaneous control line was maintained by randomly selecting 5 boars and 15 gilts. Data from a total of 1057 pigs sired by 58 boars and out of 133 sows were available from the two lines. Selection responses were estimated from deviations of the selection line from the control line using least squares (LS) and by multiple trait derivative-free restricted maximum likelihood analysis using an animal model (AM). The estimate of response to selection per generation using LS was 9.4 ± 0.95 g d–1 for LGR. The corresponding estimate from the AM was 9.8 ± 0.51 g d–1. Correlated responses in litter traits were regressed on generation. For the LS method, regression coefficients were negative but not significant (P > 0.05) for total number born, number born alive, and number at 21 d and at 42 d. Significant, positive correlated responses occurred in 42-d litter weight and 21-d piglet weight (P < 0.05). For the AM method, the regression coefficients were also negative, but were not significant (P > 0.05) for numberalive at birth, at 21 d, and at 42 d. A significant positive correlated response occurred only for 42-d litter weight (P < 0.05). Although results are based on a population of limited size, it can be concluded that selection for LGR in a synthetic line is effective and should have little effect on litter traits. Key words: Pigs, selection, lean growth rate, correlated response


1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 1040-1047 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ferron ◽  
J.-P. Ouellet

The physical and behavioral postnatal development of woodchucks (Marmota monax) was analyzed from birth to 42 days of age, the age at which weaning begins. Postnatal growth was evaluated by means of daily measurements of body weight, body length, tail length, and length of hind foot. Data on length of ear pinnae, vibrissae, and fur, and on the timing of appearance of some events of physical development are also presented. We considered postnatal development of locomotion, alertness, exploratory behavior, feeding, and comfort and social behavior. Our results indicate no sexual dimorphism in body size in young woodchucks, despite its occurrence in adults. Intraspecific comparisons reveal that woodchucks from different populations show marked variation in growth rate. The high level of intraspecific variation in developmental rates of sciurid rodents provides a warning to those performing interspecific comparisons. The data also suggest that the ratio of growth rate to adult body weight is not related to environmental severity. Behavioral development in M. monax is similar to that of ground squirrels but faster than that of tree squirrels and flying squirrels. There is also no direct relationship between size and timing of behavioral development in sciurid rodents. The behavioral repertoire of young woodchucks is simpler than that of young Spermophilus lateralis, another asocial species. It is possible that specific differences in rates of development of social interactions led to such differentiation in the repertoire of social behavior.


1976 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 791-801
Author(s):  
I. GARNETT ◽  
G. W. RAHNEFELD

Female reproductive performance and pre-weaning survival and growth were examined in a population of swine over 11 generations of selection for post-weaning average daily gain (ADG). Three separate breeding groups were used: (1) a Lacombe (L) line selected each generation for ADG, (2) a Yorkshire control (Y) line, and (3) a crossbred Lacombe × Yorkshire group (LY) generated each generation from the L and Y lines. Breeding group differences were evident for litter size, perinatal mortality, pre-weaning mortality, gestation length, birth weight, pre-weaning average daily gain (PreADG) and weaning weight. Selection did not affect number born, number born alive, number weaned or birth weight. When the values for the L line were expressed as a deviation from the control, pre-weaning mortality showed an increase. The increase appeared to be due to a decrease in the control rather than an increase in the L line. Gestation length showed a negative response to selection. As in the case of pre-weaning mortality, the response appeared to be a reflection of the instability of the control line. Genetic gains in PreADG of 0.004 kg/day/generation were realized in both the L line and LY group. Correspondingly, responses of 0.18 and 0.19 kg/generation were realized for weaning weight in the L line and LY group.


1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-210
Author(s):  
L. Hinrichsen ◽  
D. Mana ◽  
R. Di Masso ◽  
M. T. Font

Abstract. The effect of disruptive selection for body conformation on body weight and length, tail length, and femur weight and length at different stages of development (21, 42, 63, and 120 days of age) was analysed in four mouse lines of the CBi stock selected for (CBi+, CBi-) and against (CBi/L, CBi/C) the phenotypic correlation between body weight and tail length, and die unselected control line CBi. As expected, body weight and tail length distributed according to the selection criteria; rrunk length (whole body length minus tail length) behaved as body welght at all ages. CBi/L had the highest femoral length (p < 0.01), and CBi/C attained the highest femoral weight (p < 0.01). CBi+ and CBi-, harmonically large or small, differed between them and from the control line in both variables (p < 0.001). These findings further corroborate the proposal that bone mass is markedly affected by the skeleton function as support of soft tissues. The allometric analysis ofthe regression of femur weight on femur length suggests that, in this model, a) the demand posed by the selective pressure forced each genotype to find a unique Solution, b) this response is sex-dependent, and c) genetic determination ofthe parameters involved in this allometric relationship is, at least, partially independent.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snigdhadip Dey ◽  
Steve Proulx ◽  
Henrique Teotonio

Most organisms live in ever-challenging temporally fluctuating environments. Theory suggests that the evolution of anticipatory (or deterministic) maternal effects underlies adaptation to environments that regularly fluctuate every other generation because of selection for increased offspring performance. Evolution of maternal bet-hedging reproductive strategies that randomize offspring phenotypes is in turn expected to underlie adaptation to irregularly fluctuating environments. Although maternal effects are ubiquitous their adaptive significance is unknown since they can easily evolve as a correlated response to selection for increased maternal performance. Using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, we show the experimental evolution of maternal provisioning of offspring with glycogen, in populations facing a novel anoxia hatching environment every other generation. As expected with the evolution of deterministic maternal effects, improved embryo hatching survival under anoxia evolved at the expense of fecundity and glycogen provisioning when mothers experienced anoxia early in life. Unexpectedly, populations facing an irregularly fluctuating anoxia hatching environment failed to evolve maternal bet-hedging reproductive strategies. Instead, adaptation in these populations should have occurred through the evolution of balancing trade-offs over multiple generations, since they evolved reduced fitness over successive generations in anoxia but did not go extinct during experimental evolution. Mathematical modelling confirms our conclusion that adaptation to a wide range of patterns of environmental fluctuations hinges on the existence of deterministic maternal effects, and that they are generally much more likely to contribute to adaptation than maternal bet-hedging reproductive strategies.


1990 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 1017-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. OLTHOFF ◽  
G. H. CROW ◽  
G. W. RAHNEFELD

Selection for yearling weight, a trait with relatively high heritability, in beef cattle should lead to a significant response in a short period of time. Changes should also occur in correlated and component traits. Data from 10 yr of yearling weight selection in beef Shorthorn cattle were used to quantify the response in correlated calf and cow traits. Selection response was measured as the difference between the performance of the select line and a corresponding control line. Annual response to selection for bull and heifer calves, respectively, averaged 5.1 and 4.3 kg for yearling weight, 2.1 and 1.6 kg for weaning weight, 0.3 and 0.2 kg for birth weight, 0.016 and 0.014 kg d−1 for post-weaning average daily gain and 0.010 and 0.007 kg d−1 for preweaning average daily gain. There were no significant changes in calf survival or cow reproductive performance. Cow weights increased 4.5 kg yr−1 for 2-yr-old heifers, similar to the yearling weight response, but only 1.3 kg yr−1 for all cows because of the time delay caused by the age distribution of the breeding herd. Yearling weight increases were brought about by increases in the individuals genetic potential for gain, primarily postweaning. Response to yearling weight selection would be relatively easy to achieve for beef producers. Some additional costs would be incurred, however, and the environmental effects, which were large, would have to be monitored. Key words: Beef cattle, yearling weight, selection response, correlated response


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 1513
Author(s):  
Leandro Molina Kamei ◽  
Edson Luis De Azambuja Ribeiro ◽  
Nilva Aparecida Nicolao Fonseca ◽  
Carolina Amália De Souza Dantas Muniz ◽  
Tatiane Vito Camiloti ◽  
...  

This study evaluated non-genetic factors and calculated heritability estimates of direct and maternal effects for growth traits in Nellore cattle raised in southern Brazil. Performance records of 4170, 1538, 3139, 1830, and 1151 calves born from 2005 to 2011 were analyzed for birth weight (BW), adjusted120-day weight (W120), adjusted 205-day weight (W205), adjusted365-day weight (W365), and adjusted 550-day weight (W550), respectively. The components of (co)variance used to calculate heritability estimates were determined by Derivative-Free Restricted Maximum Likelihood using the MTDFREML software. Contemporary groups were included in the model as fixed effects, and direct and maternal effects, permanent environmental effects, and residual errors were included as random effects. Phenotypic correlations were estimated using the PROC CORR procedure from SAS. Overall means for BW, W120, W205, W365, and W550 were 38, 138, 201, 270, and 376 kg, respectively. Heritability estimates for direct and maternal effects were 0.17 ± 0.04 and 0.11 ± 0.03 (BW), 0.14 ± 0.03 and 0.03 ± 0.04 (W120), and 0.17 ± 0.04 and 0.09 ± 0.03 (W205). Genetic, phenotypic, and environmental correlations were 0.79, 0.44, and 0.32 for BW and W120, 0.79, 0.39, and 0.26 for BW and W205, and 0.96, 0.74, and 0.75 for W120 and W205. The results indicate that selection for pre-weaning weight would be more efficient using W205, and genetic correlation coefficients indicate that selection at any age should produce a positively correlated response at older ages. Genetic, phenotypic, and environmental correlation coefficients between W365 and W550 were 0.99, 0.75, and 0.76, respectively. Selection for adjusted 550-day weight should produce the greatest genetic gains. Genetic correlation coefficients between weight traits indicate that selection for weight at older ages, which could help reduce the number of weighings and increase accuracy of selection at younger ages, produces gains at older ages.


Reproduction ◽  
2000 ◽  
pp. 205-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
CA Ernst ◽  
BK Rhees ◽  
CH Miao ◽  
WR Atchley

Reciprocal embryo transfer procedures were performed among mouse selection lines to examine prenatal maternal effects on survival and development of transferred embryos. Mice were from generations 28 and 29 of an experiment to select for (i) increased body weight again from 0 to 10 days (E+); (ii) decreased body weight gain from 0 to 10 days (E-); or (iii) a randomly bred control line (C). A total of 118 embryo transfer procedures performed 12 h after conception resulted in 983 progeny born to 89 litters. There was a 39% overall embryo survival rate and 75% overall pregnancy success rate. Response to superovulation and oestrous synchronization was significantly lower (P < 0.01) in the E+ line. E+ individuals that did superovulate produced an average of 37 oocytes per flush, which was significantly higher than in the control line mice (29 oocytes per flush; P < 0.01). The ability to complete pregnancy successfully was not influenced by uterine environment or embryo-uterine interaction. In contrast, embryo survival in successful pregnancies was significantly affected by uterine environment. There were large maternal effects for body weight and tail length at birth; E+ recipients produced pups that were significantly larger than E- recipient pups (P < 0.01), which in turn were significantly larger than pups gestated by control recipients (P < 0.01).


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