Records on 1,180 young Angus bulls and heifers involved in performance tests were used to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters for feed intake, feed efficiency, and other postweaning traits. The mean age was 268 d at the start of the performance test, which comprised 21-d adjustment and 70-d test periods. Traits studied included 200-d weight, 400-d weight, scrotal circumference, ultrasonic measurements of rib and rump fat depths and longissimus muscle area, ADG, metabolic weight, daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and residual feed intake. For all traits except the last five, additional data from the Angus Society ofAustralia pedigree and performance database were included, which increased the number of animals to 27,229. Genetic (co)variances were estimated by REML using animal models. Direct heritability estimates for 200-d weight, 400-d weight, rib fat depth, ADG, feed conversion,and residual feed intake were 0.17 +/- 0.03, 0.27 +/- 0.03, 0.35 +/- 0.04, 0.28 +/- 0.04, 0.29 +/- 0.04, and 0.39 +/- 0.03, respectively. Feed conversion ratio was genetically (r(g) = 0.66 ) and phenotypically (r(p) = 0.53) correlated with residual feed intake. Feed conversion ratio was correlated (r(g) = -0.62, r(p) = -0.74) with ADG, whereas residual feed intake was not (rg = -0.04, r(p) = -0.06). Genetically, both residual feed intake and feed conversion ratio were negatively correlated with direct effects of 200-d weight (r(g) = -0.45 and -0.21) and 400-d weight (r(g) = -0.26 and -0.09). The correlations between the remaining traits and the feed efficiency traits were near zero, except between feed intake and feed conversion ratio (r(g) = 0.31, r(p) = 0.23), feed intake and residual feed intake (r(g) = 0.69, r(p) = 0.72), and rib fat depth and residual feed intake (r(g) = 0.17, r(p) = 0.14). These results indicate that genetic improvement in feed efficiency can be achieved through selection and, in general, correlated responses in growth and the other postweaning traits will be minimal.

In order to estimate genetic parameters, abattoir carcass data on 1,713 Angus and 1,007 Hereford steers and heifers were combined with yearling live-animal ultrasound measurements on 8,196 Angus and 3,405 Hereford individuals from seedstock herds. Abattoir measures included carcass weight (CWT), percentage of retail beefyield (RBY), near-infrared measured intramuscular fat percentage (CIMF), preslaughter scanned eye muscle area (CEMA), and subcutaneous fat depth at the 12th rib (CRIB) and at the P8 site (CP8). Ultrasound scans on yearling animals included 12th-rib fat depth (SRIB), rump fat depth at the P8 site (SP8), eye muscle area (SEMA), and percentage of intramuscular fat (SIMF). Records on CWT were adjusted to 650-d slaughter age, and the remaining abattoir traits were adjusted to 300-kg CWT. Scan data were analyzed treating records on males and females as different traits. Multivariate analyses were performed on a variety of trait combinations using animal model and REML algorithm. Heritability (h2) estimates for CWT, RBY, CIMF, CP8, CRIB, and CEMA were .31, .68, .43, .44, .28, and .26, respectively, for Angus and .54, .36, .36, .08, .27, .38, respectively, for Hereford. Pooled across sexes, h2 estimates for SIMF, SP8, SRIB, and SEMA were .33, .55, .51, and .42, respectively, for Angus and .20, .31, .18, and .38, respectively, for Hereford. Genetic correlations (r(g)) between the same pair of carcass traits measured at yearling through scanning and directly at the abattoir were moderate to strongly positive, suggesting that selection using yearling ultrasound measurements of seedstock cattle should result in predictable genetic improvement for abattoir carcass characteristics. Estimates of r(g) between the scanned fat measurements and RBY were negative, ranging from -.85 for Angus heifers to -.05 for Hereford heifers. Also, the estimates of r(g) between SEMA and the fat records measured at the abattoir were negative and ranged from -.94 in Hereford heifers to -.02 in Angus heifers.

No abstract

The genetics of reproduction is poorly understood because the heritabilities of traits currently recorded are low. To elucidate the genetics underlying reproduction in beef cattle, we performed a genome-wide association study using the bovine SNP50 chip in 2 tropically adapted beef cattle breeds, Brahman and Tropical Composite. Here we present the results for 3 female reproduction traits: 1) age at puberty, defined as age in days at first observed corpus luteum (CL) after frequent ovarian ultrasound scans (AGECL); 2) the postpartum anestrous interval, measured as the number of days from calving to first ovulation postpartum (first rebreeding interval, PPAI); and 3) the occurrence of the first postpartum ovulation before weaning in the first rebreeding period (PW), defined from PPAI. In addition, correlated traits such as BW, height, serum IGF1 concentration, condition score, and fatness were also examined. In the Brahman and Tropical Composite cattle, 169 [false positive rate (FPR) = 0.262] and 84 (FPR = 0.581) SNP, respectively, were significant (P < 0.001) for AGECL. In Brahman, 41% of these significant markers mapped to a single chromosomal region on BTA14. In Tropical Composites, 16% of these significant markers were located on BTA5. For PPAI, 66 (FPR = 0.67) and 113 (FPR = 0.432) SNP were significant (P < 0.001) in Brahman and Tropical Composite, respectively, whereas for PW, 68 (FPR = 0.64) and 113 (FPR = 0.432) SNP were significant (P < 0.01). In Tropical Composites, the largest concentration of PPAI markers were located on BTA5 [19% (PPAI) and 23% (PW)], and BTA16 [17% (PPAI) and 18% (PW)]. In Brahman cattle, the largest concentration of markers for postpartum anestrus was located on BTA3 (14% for PPAI and PW) and BTA14 (17% PPAI). Very few of the significant markers for female reproduction traits for the Brahman and Tropical Composite breeds were located in the same chromosomal regions. However, fatness and BW traits as well as serum IGF1 concentration were found to be associated with similar genome regions within and between breeds. Clusters of SNP associated with multiple traits were located on BTA14 in Brahman and BTA5 in Tropical Composites.

Adaptation of global food systems to climate change is essential to feed the world. Tropical cattle production, a mainstay of profitability for farmers in the developing world, is dominated by heat, lack of water, poor quality feedstuffs, parasites, and tropical diseases. In these systems European cattle suffer significant stock loss, and the cross breeding of taurine x indicine cattle is unpredictable due to the dilution of adaptation to heat and tropical diseases. We explored the genetic architecture of ten traits of tropical cattle production using genome wide association studies of 4,662 animals varying from 0% to 100% indicine. We show that nine of the ten have genetic architectures that include genes of major effect, and in one case, a single location that accounted for more than 71% of the genetic variation. One genetic region in particular had effects on parasite resistance, yearling weight, body condition score, coat colour and penile sheath score. This region, extending 20 Mb on BTA5, appeared to be under genetic selection possibly through maintenance of haplotypes by breeders. We found that the amount of genetic variation and the genetic correlations between traits did not depend upon the degree of indicine content in the animals. Climate change is expected to expand some conditions of the tropics to more temperate environments, which may impact negatively on global livestock health and production. Our results point to several important genes that have large effects on adaptation that could be introduced into more temperate cattle without detrimental effects on productivity.

The relationship between the primary cell wall phenolic acids, dehydrodimers of ferulic acid, and maize grain resistance to Fusarium graminearum, the causal agent of gibberella ear rot, was investigated. Concentrations of dehydrodimers of ferulic acid were determined in the pericarp and aleurone tissues of five inbreds and two hybrids of varying susceptibility and in a segregating population from a cross between a resistant and susceptible inbred. Significant negative correlations were found between disease severity and diferulic acid content. Even stronger correlations were observed between diferulic acid and the fungal steroid ergosterol, which is an indicator of fungal biomass in infected plant tissue. These results were consistent over two consecutive field seasons, which differed significantly for temperature and rainfall during pollination, the most susceptible stage of ear development. No correlation was found between the levels of these phenolics and deoxynivalenol levels. This is the first report of in vivo evidence that the dehydrodimers of ferulic acid content in pericarp and aleurone tissues may play a role in genotypic resistance of maize to gibberella ear rot.

No abstract

Abstract.A total of 2115 heifers from two tropical genotypes (1007 Brahman and 1108 Tropical Composite) raised in four locations in northern Australia were ovarian-scanned every 4-6 weeks to determine the age at the first-observed corpus luteum (CL) and this was used to define the age at puberty for each heifer. Other traits recorded at each time of ovarian scanning were liveweight, fat depths and body condition score. Reproductive tract size was measured close to the start of the first joining period. Results showed significant effects of location and birth month on the age at first CL and associated puberty traits. Genotypes did not differ significantly for the age or weight at first CL; however, Brahman were fatter at first CL and had a small reproductive tract size compared with that of Tropical Composite. Genetic analyses estimated the age at first CL to be moderately to highly heritable for Brahman (0.57) and Tropical Composite (0.52). The associated traits were also moderately heritable, except for reproductive tract size in Brahmans (0.03) and for Tropical Composite, the presence of an observed CL on the scanning day closest to the start of joining (0.07). Genetic correlations among puberty traits were mostly moderate to high and generally larger in magnitude for Brahman than for Tropical Composite. Genetic correlations between the age at CL and heifer-and steer-production traits showed important genotype differences. For Tropical Composite, the age at CL was negatively correlated with the heifer growth rate in their first postweaning wet season (-0.40) and carcass marbling score (-0.49), but was positively correlated with carcass P8 fat depth (0.43). For Brahman, the age at CL was moderately negatively genetically correlated with heifer measures of bodyweight, fatness, body condition score and IGF-I, in both their first postweaning wet and second dry seasons, but was positively correlated with the dry-season growth rate. For Brahman, genetic correlations between the age at CL and steer traits showed possible antagonisms with feedlot residual feed intake (-0.60) and meat colour (0.73). Selection can be used to change the heifer age at puberty in both genotypes, with few major antagonisms with steer-and heifer-production traits.