Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T16:48:35.229Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Genetic parameters for stayability to consecutive calvings in Zebu cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2017

D. O. Silva
Affiliation:
Grupo de Melhoramento Animal de Mato Grosso (GMAT), Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Tecnológicas, Campus Universitário de Rondonópolis, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, CEP 78735-901, Rondonópolis, MT, Brazil Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, CEP 14870-000, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil
M. L. Santana
Affiliation:
Grupo de Melhoramento Animal de Mato Grosso (GMAT), Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Tecnológicas, Campus Universitário de Rondonópolis, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, CEP 78735-901, Rondonópolis, MT, Brazil
D. R. Ayres
Affiliation:
Grupo de Melhoramento Animal de Mato Grosso (GMAT), Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Tecnológicas, Campus Universitário de Rondonópolis, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, CEP 78735-901, Rondonópolis, MT, Brazil
G. R. O. Menezes
Affiliation:
Embrapa Gado de Corte, CEP 79106-550, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
L. O. C. Silva
Affiliation:
Embrapa Gado de Corte, CEP 79106-550, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
P. R. C. Nobre
Affiliation:
Programa de Melhoramento Genético Geneplus-Embrapa, CEP 79106-550, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
R. J. Pereira*
Affiliation:
Grupo de Melhoramento Animal de Mato Grosso (GMAT), Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Tecnológicas, Campus Universitário de Rondonópolis, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, CEP 78735-901, Rondonópolis, MT, Brazil
*
Get access

Abstract

Longer-lived cows tend to be more profitable and the stayability trait is a selection criterion correlated to longevity. An alternative to the traditional approach to evaluate stayability is its definition based on consecutive calvings, whose main advantage is the more accurate evaluation of young bulls. However, no study using this alternative approach has been conducted for Zebu breeds. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare linear random regression models to fit stayability to consecutive calvings of Guzerá, Nelore and Tabapuã cows and to estimate genetic parameters for this trait in the respective breeds. Data up to the eighth calving were used. The models included the fixed effects of age at first calving and year-season of birth of the cow and the random effects of contemporary group, additive genetic, permanent environmental and residual. Random regressions were modeled by orthogonal Legendre polynomials of order 1 to 4 (2 to 5 coefficients) for contemporary group, additive genetic and permanent environmental effects. Using Deviance Information Criterion as the selection criterion, the model with 4 regression coefficients for each effect was the most adequate for the Nelore and Tabapuã breeds and the model with 5 coefficients is recommended for the Guzerá breed. For Guzerá, heritabilities ranged from 0.05 to 0.08, showing a quadratic trend with a peak between the fourth and sixth calving. For the Nelore and Tabapuã breeds, the estimates ranged from 0.03 to 0.07 and from 0.03 to 0.08, respectively, and increased with increasing calving number. The additive genetic correlations exhibited a similar trend among breeds and were higher for stayability between closer calvings. Even between more distant calvings (second v. eighth), stayability showed a moderate to high genetic correlation, which was 0.77, 0.57 and 0.79 for the Guzerá, Nelore and Tabapuã breeds, respectively. For Guzerá, when the models with 4 or 5 regression coefficients were compared, the rank correlations between predicted breeding values for the intercept were always higher than 0.99, indicating the possibility of practical application of the least parameterized model. In conclusion, the model with 4 random regression coefficients is recommended for the genetic evaluation of stayability to consecutive calvings in Zebu cattle.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 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.)

Footnotes

a

Present address: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, CEP 14870-000, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil.

References

Albuquerque, LG, Mercadante, MEZ and Eler, JP 2007. Aspectos da seleção de Bos indicus para produção de carne. Boletim de Indústria Animal 64, 339348.Google Scholar
Bertazzo, RP, Freitas, RTF, Gonçalves, TM, Pereira, IG, Eler, JP, Ferraz, JBS, Oliveira, AIG and Andrade, IF 2004. Parâmetros genéticos de longevidade e produtividade de fêmeas da raça Nelore. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia 33, 11181127.Google Scholar
Geweke, J 1992. Evaluating the accuracy of sampling-based approaches to the calculation of posterior moments. In Bayesian statistics (ed. Bernardo JM, Berger JO, Dawid AP and Smith AFM), pp 625631. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Hudson, GFS and Van Vleck, LD 1981. Relationship between production and stayability in Holstein cattle. Journal Dairy Science 64, 22462250.Google Scholar
Jamrozik, J, McGrath, S, Kemp, RA and Miller, SP 2013. Estimates of genetic parameters for stayability to consecutive calvings of Canadian Simmentals by random regression models. Journal of Animal Science 91, 36343643.Google Scholar
Lôbo, RB, Bezerra, LAF, Figueiredo, LGG, Baldi, F, Faria, CU, Vozzi, PA, Magnabosco, CU, Bergmann, JAG and Oliveira, HN 2016. Sumário de Touros das Raças Nelore, Guzerá, Brahman e Tabapuã: Edição Agosto de 2016. ANCP, 116 pp.Google Scholar
Maignel, L, Boichard, D and Verrier, E 1996. Genetic variability of French dairy breeds estimated from pedigree information. Interbull Bull 14, 4954.Google Scholar
Martinez, GE, Koch, RM, Cundiff, LV, Gregory, KE, Kachman, SD and Van Vleck, LD 2005. Genetic parameters for stayability, stayability at calving, and stayability at weaning to specified ages for Hereford cows. Journal of Animal Science 83, 20332042.Google Scholar
Misztal, I, Tsuruta, S, Strable, T, Auvray, B, Druet, T and Lee, D 2002. BLUPF90 and related programs (BGF90). In Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Montpellier, France, pp. 19–23.Google Scholar
Queiroz, SA, Figueiredo, G, Silva, JAIIV, Espasandin, AC, Meirelles, SL and Oliveira, JA 2007. Estimativa de parâmetros genéticos da habilidade de permanência aos 48, 60 e 72 meses de idade em vacas da raça Caracu. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia 36, 13161323.Google Scholar
Raftery, AL and Lewis, S 1992. Comment: one long run with diagnostics: Implementation strategies for Markov chain Monte Carlo. Statistical Science 7, 493497.Google Scholar
R Development Core Team 2014. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.Google Scholar
Riley, DG, Sanders, JO, Knutsun, RE and Lunt, DK 2001. Comparison of F1 Bos indicus×Hereford cows in central Texas: II. Udder, mouth, longevity, and lifetime productivity. Journal of Animal Science 79, 14391449.Google Scholar
Robertson, A and Lerner, IM 1949. The heritability of all or none traits: Viability of poultry. Genetics 34, 395411.Google Scholar
Santana, ML Jr, Eler, JP, Bignardi, AB and Ferraz, JBS 2015. Two-trait random regression model to estimate the genetic association of scrotal circumference with female reproductive performance in Nelore cattle. Theriogenology 83, 15341540.Google Scholar
Santana, ML Jr, Eler, JP, Ferraz, JBS and Mattos, EC 2012. Genetic relationship between growth and reproductive traits in Nellore cattle. Animal 6, 565570.Google Scholar
Silva, JAIIV, Eler, JP, Ferraz, JBS, Golden, BL and Oliveira, HN 2003. Heritability estimate for stayability in nelore cows. Livestock Production Science 79, 97101.Google Scholar
Smith, BJ 2007. boa: An R Package for MCMC output convergence assessment and posterior inference. Journal of Statistical Software 21, 137.Google Scholar
Snelling, WM, Golden, BL and Bourdon, RM 1995. Within-herd analyses of stayability of beef females. Journal of Animal Science 73, 9931001.Google Scholar
Spiegelhalter, DJ, Best, NG, Carlin, BP and Van Der Linde, A 2002. Bayesian measures of model complexity and fit. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series B. Statistical Methodology 64, 583639.Google Scholar
Van Melis, MH, Eler, JP, Oliveira, HN, Rosa, GJM, Silva, JAIIV, Ferraz, JBS and Pereira, E 2007. Study of stayability in Nellore cows using a threshold model. Journal of Animal Science 85, 17801786.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Silva et al supplementary material

Silva et al supplementary material 1

Download Silva et al supplementary material(File)
File 40.2 KB