Genetic analysis of clinical mastitis data for Holstein cattle in the Czech Republic

Abstract. Cases of mastitis were recorded from 22 812 lactations of 10 294 cows on seven farms in the Czech Republic from 2000 to 2012. The per cow number of clinical mastitis (CM) cases per lactation (CM1), number of days of CM per lactation (CM2), and CM considered as an all-or-none trait (CM3) with values of 0 (no CM case) or 1 (at least 1 CM case) were analyzed with linear animal models. Bivariate linear animal models were used for estimation of genetic correlations between CM traits and average lactation somatic cell score (SCS305), average 305-day milk (MY305), fat (FY305) and protein (PY305) yield, and interval between calving and first insemination (INT) and days open (DO). Factors included in the model of choice were parity, herd effect, year of calving, calving season, permanent environmental effect of the cow, and additive genetic effect of the cow. Estimated heritabilities for CM traits were in the range of 0.09 to 0.10. Genetic correlations of SCS305 with CM traits 1, 2, and 3 were 0.22 ± 0.062, 0.23 ± 0.064, and 0.29 ± 0.086, respectively; those of MY305 with the three CM traits were 0.80 ± 0.037, 0.79 ± 0.040, and 0.83 ± 0.038, respectively; those of INT with the three CM traits were 0.19 ± 0.087, 0.17 ± 0.089, and 0.26 ± 0.091, respectively; and those of DO with the three CM traits were 0.28 ± 0.089, 0.22 ± 0.091, and 0.27 ± 0.091, respectively. Knowledge of genetic parameters of mastitis incidence and assessment of the economic importance of the disease is necessary to design breeding programs to improve udder health.

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Genetic Parameters for Clinical Mastitis, Fertility and Somatic Cell Score in Czech Holstein Cattle

Annals of Animal Science ◽

10.1515/aoas-2017-0006 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 1007-1018

Author(s):

Ludmila Zavadilová ◽

Miloslava Štípková ◽

Alena Svitáková ◽

Zuzana Krupová ◽

Eva Kašná

Keyword(s):

Somatic Cell ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Clinical Mastitis ◽

Somatic Cell Score ◽

Additive Genetic Effect ◽

Phenotypic Variance ◽

Quadratic Regression ◽

The Czech Republic ◽

Calving Season

AbstractCases of mastitis (CM) from 38,236 lactations belonging to 16,497 cows were recorded on seven farms in the Czech Republic from 1996 to 2014. Clinical mastitis was analyzed with linear animal model as an all-or-none trait for each recorded lactation (CM305) and separately for each trimester of lactation (CM1, CM2, and CM3). Bivariate linear animal models were used to estimate the genetic correlation between these CM traits and lactation means for somatic cell score (SCS305), the interval between calving and first insemination (INT) and days open (DO). Factors included in the linear model were parity, herd, year of calving, calving season, fixed linear and quadratic regression on age at first calving, fixed linear and quadratic regression on milk production in the corresponding parity, permanent environmental effect of the cow, and additive genetic effect of the cow. Estimated heritabilities of the CM traits ranged from 0.01 to 0.03. Permanent environmental effects accounted for approximately two-thirds of the phenotypic variance. Genetic correlations of SCS305 with CM traits were 0.85±0.029, 0.81±0.086, 0.82±0.087, and 0.67±0.088 for CM305, CM1, CM2, and CM3, respectively. Genetic correlations of INT with CM305, CM1, CM2, and CM3, respectively, were 0.22±0.065, 0.19±0.084, 0.20±0.121 and 0.15±0.121: and genetic correlations of DO and the four CM traits were 0.28±0.079, 0.26±0.101, 0.43±0.134, and 0.15±0.131. For the 140 sires in the dataset, Spearman rank correlations among breeding values for the four CM traits and for SCS305 were uniformly high at 0.99±0.001.

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Estimation of Genetic Parameters of Type Traits in First Parity Cows of the Autochthonous Cika Cattle in Slovenia

Frontiers in Genetics ◽

10.3389/fgene.2021.724058 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Mojca Simčič ◽

Barbara Luštrek ◽

Miran Štepec ◽

Betka Logar ◽

Klemen Potočnik

Keyword(s):

Fixed Effects ◽

Genetic Parameters ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Breeding Value ◽

Additive Genetic Effect ◽

Body Frame ◽

Herd Effect ◽

Long Time ◽

Type Traits

The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters of 26 individual and four composite type traits in first parity Cika cows. An analysis of variance was performed with the generalized linear model procedure of the SAS/STAT statistical package, where the fixed effects of year of recording, cow’s age at recording and days after calving as a linear regression were included in the model. The variance components for the direct additive genetic effect and the herd effect in all type traits were estimated using the REML method in the VCE-6 software package. The estimated heritabilities ranged from 0.42 to 0.67 for the measured body frame traits, from 0.36 to 0.80 for the scored autochthonous traits, from 0.11 to 0.61 for the scored body frame traits, and from 0.20 to 0.47 for the scored udder traits. The estimated heritabilities for the composite traits called “autochthonous characteristics”, “muscularity”, “body frame” and “udder” were 0.55, 0.19, 0.19, and 0.26, respectively. The estimated genetic correlations among the measured body frame traits were positive and high, while the majority of them among the scored body frame traits were low to moderate. The estimated proportions of variance explained by the herd effect for the composite traits “autochthonous characteristics,” “muscularity,” “body frame” and “udder” were 0.09, 0.28, 0.14, and 0.10, respectively. The estimated heritabilities for the type traits of first parity Cika cows were similar to those reported for other breeds where breeding values have been routinely predicted for a long time. All estimated genetic parameters are already used for breeding value prediction in the Cika cattle population.

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Genomic Breeding Values for Claw Diseases/Disorders in Czech Holstein Cows

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis ◽

10.11118/actaun201967051245 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 67 (5) ◽

pp. 1245-1251

Author(s):

Ludmila Zavadilová ◽

Eva Kašná ◽

Zuzana Krupová

Keyword(s):

Infectious Diseases ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Holstein Cows ◽

Additive Genetic Effect ◽

Genomic Information ◽

White Line ◽

Genomic Breeding ◽

Breeding Values

Genomic breeding values (GEBV) were predicted for claw diseases/disorders in Holstein cows. The data sets included 6,498, 6,641 and 16,208 cows for the three groups of analysed disorders. The analysed traits were infectious diseases (ID), including digital and interdigital dermatitis and interdigital phlegmon, and non-infectious diseases (NID), including ulcers, white line disease, horn fissures, and double sole and overall claw disease (OCD), comprising all recorded disorders. Claw diseases/disorders were defined as 0/1 occurrence per lactation. Linear animal models were employed for prediction of conventional breeding values (BV) and genomic breeding values (GEBV), including the random additive genetic effect of animal and the permanent environmental effect of cow and fixed effects of parity, herd, year and month of calving. Both high and intermediate weights (80% and 50%, respectively) of genomic information were employed for GEBV50 and GEBV80 prediction. The estimated heritability for ID was 3.47%, whereas that for NID 4.61% and for OCD was 2.29%. Approximate genetic correlations among claw diseases/disorders traits ranged from 19% (ID x NID) to 81% (NID x OCD). The correlations between predicted BV and GEBV50 (84–99%) were higher than those between BV and GEBV80 (70–98%). Reliability of breeding values was low for each claw disease/disorder (on average, 3.7 to 14.8%) and increased with the weight of genomic information employed.

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Genetic-Quantitative Uni- and Bi-Trait Analysis for Growth Traits in the Colombian Creole Breed Blanco Orejinegro (BON)

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1125146/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Marisol Londoño-Gil ◽

Juan Carlos Rincón Flórez ◽

Albeiro López-Herrera ◽

Luis Gabriel Gonzalez-Herrera

Keyword(s):

Growth Traits ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Cattle Breed ◽

Live Weight ◽

Daily Weight Gain ◽

Additive Genetic Effect ◽

Selection Processes ◽

Heritability Estimates ◽

Maternal Heritability

Abstract The Blanco Orejinegro (BON) is a Colombian creole cattle breed that is not genetically well characterized for growth traits. The aim of this work was to estimate genetic parameters for birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), yearling weight (YW), daily weight gain between birth and weaning (DWG), time to reach 120 kg of live weight (T120), and time to reach 60% of adult weight (T60%), and establish the selection criteria for growth traits in the BON population of Colombia. Genealogical and phenotypic information for BW, WW, YW, DWG, T120, and T60% traits of BON animals from 14 Colombian herds were used. These traits were analyzed with the AIREML method in a uni- and bi-trait animal model including the maternal effect for BW, WW, DWG, and T120. The direct heritability estimates values were 0.22 ± 0.059 (BW), 0.20 ± 0.057 (WW), 0.20 ± 0.153 (YW), 0.17 ± 0.07 (DWG), 0.26 (T120), and 0.44 ± 0.03 (T60%). The maternal heritability estimates values were 0.14 ± 0.040 (BW), 0.15 ± 0.039 (WW), 0.25 ± 0.06 (DWG), and 0.16 (T120). The direct genetic correlations were high (>|0.60|) among all the traits, except between T60% with BW, WW, YW, and DWG (ranged from -0.02 to -0.51), all in a favorable direction. The results showed that there is genetic variation in the growth traits associated with the additive genetic effect and they might respond to selection processes. Furthermore, genetic gains would improve through selection, especially for YW and T60% when WW is used as criterion.

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Stability of Aberdeen Angus breeding values in the Czech Republic from 1997 to 2007

Czech Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.17221/3840-cjas ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 56 (No. 11) ◽

pp. 509-520 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

DucháčekJ ◽

PřibylJ ◽

L. Stádník ◽

VostrýL ◽

BeranJ ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Czech Republic ◽

Direct Effect ◽

Maternal Effect ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Strong Relationship ◽

The Czech Republic ◽

Breeding Values ◽

Angus Cattle ◽

The Stability

We predict the stability of breeding values (BVs) for direct effect (DE) and maternal effect (ME) for live weights at 210 days of age in the entire population of purebred Aberdeen Angus cattle in the Czech Republic according to an increase of progeny number in performance recording over a period of 11 years (1997 to 2007) and the course of BVs for DE and ME during the years of observation in animals born until 1997.  Furthermore we compare genetic trends of BVs for DE and ME among animals born in different years and detect the level and significance of correlation coefficients among predictions of BVs for DE and ME performed during the years of observation. The animal model and the BLUPF90 programme were used for these predictions. The used model included the effects of animal, sex, contemporary group, dam, age of dam, and permanent environment of dam. The variance of BVs ranged from 4.96 to 10.87 depending on the year of evaluation and whether it was related to maternal or direct genetic effect. The animals were initially assigned to groups according to their BV in 1997, and this ranking was not affected by the BVs predicted in subsequent years. The existence of a negative correlation between direct and maternal effects was confirmed. The significant correlations (P < 0.0001) demonstrated a strong relationship between the BVs predicted in successive years, e.g. the correlation coefficient for the relationship between BVs for direct effect predicted in the last years of the examined period was above 0.9 and that for maternal effect was above 0.8. 

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Genetic parameters of meat quality, carcass composition, and growth traits in commercial swine

Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.1093/jas/skz247 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 97 (9) ◽

pp. 3669-3683 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Piush Khanal ◽

Christian Maltecca ◽

Clint Schwab ◽

Kent Gray ◽

Francesco Tiezzi

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Growth Traits ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Carcass Composition ◽

Additive Genetic Effect ◽

Yield Traits ◽

Data Set ◽

Crossbred Pigs

Abstract Swine industry breeding goals are mostly directed towards meat quality and carcass traits due to their high economic value. Yet, studies on meat quality and carcass traits including both phenotypic and genotypic information remain limited, particularly in commercial crossbred swine. The objectives of this study were to estimate the heritabilities for different carcass composition traits and meat quality traits and to estimate the genetic and phenotypic correlations between meat quality, carcass composition, and growth traits in 2 large commercial swine populations: The Maschhoffs LLC (TML) and Smithfield Premium Genetics (SPG), using genotypes and phenotypes data. The TML data set consists of 1,254 crossbred pigs genotyped with 60K SNP chip and phenotyped for meat quality, carcass composition, and growth traits. The SPG population included over 35,000 crossbred pigs phenotyped for meat quality, carcass composition, and growth traits. For TML data sets, the model included fixed effects of dam line, contemporary group (CG), gender, as well as random additive genetic effect and pen nested within CG. For the SPG data set, fixed effects included parity, gender, and CG, as well as random additive genetic effect and harvest group. Analyses were conducted using BLUPF90 suite of programs. Univariate and bivariate analyses were implemented to estimate heritabilities and correlations among traits. Primal yield traits were uniquely created in this study. Heritabilities [high posterior density interval] of meat quality traits ranged from 0.08 [0.03, 0.16] for pH and 0.08 [0.03, 0.1] for Minolta b* to 0.27 [0.22, 0.32] for marbling score, except intramuscular fat with the highest estimate of 0.52 [0.40, 0.62]. Heritabilities of primal yield traits were higher than that of primal weight traits and ranged from 0.17 [0.13, 0.25] for butt yield to 0.45 [0.36, 0.55] for ham yield. The genetic correlations of meat quality and carcass composition traits with growth traits ranged from moderate to high in both directions. High genetic correlations were observed for male and female for all traits except pH. The genetic parameter estimates of this study indicate that a multitrait approach should be considered for selection programs aimed at meat quality and carcass composition in commercial swine populations.

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Estimates of genetic parameters for ultrasound-measured carcass traits in sheep

Canadian Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.4141/a03-080 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 84 (3) ◽

pp. 361-365 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

T. L. Fernandes ◽

J. W. Wilton ◽

J. J. Tosh

Keyword(s):

Genetic Improvement ◽

Variance Component ◽

Genetic Parameters ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Backfat Thickness ◽

Additive Genetic Effect ◽

Multiple Trait ◽

Breed Group ◽

Variance Component Estimates

Data on ultrasound traits (loin depth, average backfat thickness, and loin width) were collected from lambs (n = 3483) across Ontario, born between 1997 and 1999. The data were analysed with a REML procedure in a multiple-trait mixed-animal model to obtain (co)variance component estimates. Analyses of all traits included the additive genetic effect of the lamb, sex of the lamb, contemporary group, and breed group effects. Weight or age was included as a covariate in two separate analyses. Estimates of direct additive heritabilities for loin depth, average backfat thickness, and loin width were 0.29, 0.29 and 0.26 respectively, with genetic correlations of -0.17 between loin depth and average backfat thickness, 0.43 between loin depth and loin width, and 0.23 between loin width and average backfat thickness for the weight constant analysis. When the data were analysed using age in the regression analysis, corresponding estimates of direct additive heritabilities were 0.38, 0.35 and 0.30, and genetic correlations between traits were all positive, 0.29 between loin depth and average backfat thickness, 0.61 between loin depth and loin width, and 0.44 between loin width and average backfat thickness. Results indicate that it is possible to make genetic improvement if selection is based on ultrasound information. Key words: Sheep, genetic parameters, heritability, ultrasound

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Genetic parameters of milk traits in Latxa dairy sheep

Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s1357729800058379 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 73 (3) ◽

pp. 407-412 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

A. Legarra ◽

E. Ugarte

Keyword(s):

Milk Fat ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Genetic Parameters ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Selection Criterion ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Milk Composition ◽

Additive Genetic Effect ◽

Dairy Sheep ◽

Milk Traits

AbstractA total of 7444 lactation records which include milk, fat and protein yields (MY, FY, PY) and fat and protein content (F%, P%) from 6429 Black-Faced Latxa ewes were employed to estimate genetic parameters for milk traits. Traits were standardized to 120 days of lactation. For the calculation of composition traits, not all test-days had their composition measured and therefore a correction taking this into account was included in the analysis. A first-derivative restricted maximum likelihood algorithm was used on an animal model with repeatability analysis, using models including fixed effects (flock-year-season of lambing, age-parity at lambing, number of lambs, interval between lambing and first milk recording and the combination of sampled test-days) and random effects (the additive genetic effect and the permanent environmental effect). The resulting heritabilities were 0·20, 0·16, 0·18, 0·14 and 0·38 for MY, FY, PY, F% and P% respectively. Heritability of F% was much lower than expected, probably due to problems derived from the recording method. Genetic correlations were high and positive between yields and moderately positive between F% and P%, and negative or null between yields and composition, as has been reported for other European dairy sheep breeds. As most of the milk produced by Latxa dairy sheep is processed into cheese, the inclusion of milk sampling in official milk recording and a change in the selection criterion are recommended to avoid a long-term worsening in milk composition.

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Evaluation genetic parameters for weight at different ages in Baluchi breed of sheep

Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s1752756200013041 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 2003 ◽

pp. 145-145

Author(s):

M. Hosseinpour Mashhadi ◽

F. Eftekhari Shahroudi ◽

R. Valizadeh

Keyword(s):

Birth Weight ◽

Genetic Parameters ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Additive Genetic Effect ◽

Maternal Environment ◽

Breeding Programs ◽

Breeding Values ◽

Genetic Potential ◽

Different Ages ◽

Maternal Genetic Effect

Improving breeding values and breeding programs should be done based on genetic potential. The range of additive direct heritability and maternal environment heritability for birth weight is about 0.07 to 0.22 and 0.1 to 0.33 respectively the range of these values for the following weights are 0.09- 0.58 and 0.01- 0.17. the objective of this study was to predict the direct additive genetic effect, maternal genetic effect and heritabilities of lamb weight traits in baluchi breed of sheep.

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Genetic and nongenetic factors influencing ewe prolificacy and lamb body weight in a closed Romanov flock

Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.1093/jas/skaa283 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 98 (9) ◽

Author(s):

Thomas W Murphy ◽

John W Keele ◽

Brad A Freking

Keyword(s):

Body Weight ◽

Maternal Effects ◽

Effective Means ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

The United States ◽

Additive Genetic Effect ◽

Parameter Estimates ◽

Phenotypic Variance ◽

Inbreeding Coefficients

Abstract The U.S. Meat Animal Research Center was the first entity in the United States to import the Romanov breed and it has been maintained as a closed flock for over 30 yr. Incorporating this super-prolific breed into crossbred and composite populations has resulted in large improvements in ewe productivity. However, few have quantified factors contributing to genetic and nongenetic variation in ewe reproduction and lamb growth within purebred Romanov populations, which were the objectives of this study. The pedigree contained a total of 8,683 lambs born to 218 and 1,600 unique sires and dams, respectively. Number of lambs born on a per ewe exposed (NLBE) and lambing (NLBL) basis were analyzed in univariate repeatability animal models. As expected, the proportion of phenotypic variance (σP2) in litter size attributable to additive genetic (0.06 to 0.08) and permanent environmental (0.05 to 0.07) effects of the ewe was low. The service sire permanent environmental effect contributed to a small but significant amount of σP2 in NLBE (0.03) but not NLBL. However, the service sire additive genetic effect did not influence σP2 in NLBE or NLBL. Lamb body weight was recorded at birth (BWB) and upon weaning from either milk replacer (~30 d; BWW-N) or their dam (~60 d; BWW-D) and were analyzed in a three-trait model with random additive direct and maternal effects. Estimated direct heritabilities were low for all body weight (BW) traits (0.07 to 0.10). Maternal heritability was moderate for BWB (0.34) but low for weaning BW (0.11 to 0.18). This was the first to report direct and maternal genetic correlations between BW of nursery- and dam-reared lambs, and both were estimated to be moderate (0.43 to 0.47). Additionally, the direct and maternal effects of BWB were more strongly correlated with BWW-N (0.74 to 0.82) than BWW-D (0.17 to 0.33). Despite inbreeding coefficients having increased at a rate of 0.33% per birth year (1986 to 2019) in this flock, they were not consistently associated with reductions in ewe or lamb performance. Parameter estimates generally agreed with those from less-prolific breeds, and results indicate that selection can be an effective means of improving subcomponents of ewe productivity.

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