Genotype by environment interaction for first-lactation female fertility traits in UK dairy cattle

Strandberg, E.; Brotherstone, S.; Wall, E.; Coffey, M.P.

doi:10.3168/jds.2008-1844

Cited by 59 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…In beef cattle breeding programs the assumption is that the additive genetic variance remains the same along the different environments. The same trend for variance components along an EG has been reported in other studies investigating growth and production traits in beef cattle, such as postweaning weight gain at different ages (345 and 450 days) (Cardoso et al, 2005;Cardoso and Campos, 2007;Pégolo et al, 2009;Mattar et al, 2011) and economically important traits in dairy cattle, such as days in milk, somatic cell count, days open, and milk yield (Kolmodin et al, 2002;Oseni et al, 2004;Calus et al, 2005Calus et al, , 2006Windig et al, 2006;Strandberg et al, 2009). According to Calus et al (2002), as the environmental conditions become more favorable, the animals find greater opportunities to express their genotype, and there is an increase in the expression of the breeding value of animals.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 53%

Reaction norms for the study of genotype-environment interaction for growth and indicator traits of sexual precocity in Nellore cattle

Lemos¹,

Chiaia²,

Berton³

et al. 2015

Genet. Mol. Res.

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ABSTRACT. The objective of this study was to quantify the magnitude of genotype-environment interaction (GxE) effects on age at first calving (AFC), scrotal circumference (SC), and yearling weight (YW) in Nellore cattle using reaction norms. For the study, 89,152 weight records of female and male Nellore animals obtained at yearling age were used. Genetic parameters were estimated with a single-trait randomregression model using Legendre polynomials as base functions. The heritability estimates were of low to medium magnitude for AFC (0.05 to 0.47) and of medium to high magnitude for SC (0.32 to 0.51) and YW (0.13 to 0.72), and increased as the environmental gradient became more favorable. The genetic correlation estimates ranged from 0.25 to 1.0 for AFC, from 0.71 to 1.0 for SC, and from 0.42 to 1.0 for YW. High Spearman correlation coefficients were obtained for the three traits, ranging from 0.97 to 0.99. The reaction norms along the environmental gradient of 10 sires each with the highest or lowest breeding value for YW predicted by single-trait analysis demonstrated more plastic phenotypes for YW and more robust phenotypes for SC. The effect of GxE was most important for YW and AFC with respect to SC. When animals are selected for higher SC or YW or lower AFC, considering or not the GxE effect, it is expected that the same animals will be selected. The reaction norms obtained based on sire breeding values along the environmental gradient showed that animals with extreme breeding values respond differently as environmental conditions improve.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 53%

Reaction norms for the study of genotype-environment interaction for growth and indicator traits of sexual precocity in Nellore cattle

Lemos¹,

Chiaia²,

Berton³

et al. 2015

Genet. Mol. Res.

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“…Nevertheless, in Holstein cattle, there is some evidence that certain fertility traits, and particularly calving-to-first service, have displayed G × E interactions when considering the herd-average production as the environmental descriptor. These interactions have differed markedly depending on the study, being relatively substantial (Rg of around 0.6) between extreme conditions such as those observed in Australia (Haile-Mariam et al, 2008) and Canada (Boettcher et al, 2003), but quite moderate (Rg of around 0.8) in UK dairy systems (Strandberg et al, 2009), or even non-existent between grazing v. confinement in US herds (Kearney et al, 2004).…”

Section: Genotype By Environment Interactions In Ruminant Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Towards the agroecological management of ruminants, pigs and poultry through the development of sustainable breeding programmes: I-selection goals and criteria

Phocas

Belloc

Bidanel

et al. 2016

Animal

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Agroecology uses natural processes and local resources rather than chemical inputs to ensure production while limiting the environmental footprint of livestock and crop production systems. Selecting to achieve a maximization of target production criteria has long proved detrimental to fitness traits. However, since the 1990s, developments in animal breeding have also focussed on animal robustness by balancing production and functional traits within overall breeding goals. We discuss here how an agroecological perspective should further shift breeding goals towards functional traits rather than production traits. Breeding for robustness aims to promote individual adaptive capacities by considering diverse selection criteria which include reproduction, animal health and welfare, and adaptation to rough feed resources, a warm climate or fluctuating environmental conditions. It requires the consideration of genotype × environment interactions in the prediction of breeding values. Animal performance must be evaluated in low-input systems in order to select those animals that are adapted to limiting conditions, including feed and water availability, climate variations and diseases. Finally, we argue that there is no single agroecological animal type, but animals with a variety of profiles that can meet the expectations of agroecology. The standardization of both animals and breeding conditions indeed appears contradictory to the agroecological paradigm that calls for an adaptation of animals to local opportunities and constraints in weakly artificialized systems tied to their physical environment.

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“…Similar scales have been used in studies such as those by Strandberg et al (2009), who, in addition to using the FE scale developed by Haskell et al (2007), also used herd averages for production and fertility-related descriptors to define environments. Kolmodin et al (2002), defined environments as the deviation from the overall herd-year averages of protein production (production environment) and days open (fertility environment).…”

Section: Defining Fementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This method involves establishing a relationship between fine-scale information provided by a sample of farms with information available nationally for all farms. The scale developed by Haskell et al (2007) has also been used by Strandberg et al (2009) while investigating fertility traits in dairy cattle. The development of a similar scale, applicable to sheep systems, would potentially allow future genetic evaluations to take G × E into account.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of animal breeding, early studies for lactation in dairy cattle used random regression test-day models to predict the lactation curves of individual dairy cows (Schaeffer and Dekkers, 1994). However, more recently, interest has grown with regards to their use to describe the variation of performance across environmental gradients such as those in dairy cattle (Calus et al, 2002;Kolmodin et al, 2002;Strandberg et al, 2009), beef cattle (Mattar et al, 2011;Santana et al, 2013a), pigs (Knap and Su, 2008) and sheep (Pollot and Greeff, 2004;Santana et al, 2013b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of different farm environments on the performance of Texel sheep

McLaren

Brotherstone

Lambe

et al. 2015

Animal

Self Cite

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In order to assess the extent of genotype by environment interactions (G × E) and environmental sensitivity in sheep farm systems, environmental factors must be identified and quantified, after which the relationship with the traits(s) of interest can be investigated. The objectives of this study were to develop a farm environment (FE) scale, using a canonical correlation analysis, which could then be used in linear reaction norm models. Fine-scale farm survey data, collected from a sample of 39 Texel flocks across the United Kingdom, was combined with information available at the national level. The farm survey data included information on flock size and concentrate feed use. National data included flock performance averages for 21-week-old weight (21WT), ultrasound back-fat (UFD) and muscle (UMD) depths, as well as regional climatic data. The FE scale developed was then combined with 181 555 (21WT), 175 399 (UMD) and 175 279 (UFD) records from lambs born between 1990 and 2011, on 494 different Texel flocks, to predict reaction norms for sires used within the population. A range of sire sensitivities estimated across the FE scale confirmed the presence of genetic variability as both 'plastic' and 'robust' genotypes were observed. Variations in heritability estimates were also observed indicating that the rate genetic progress was dependent on the environment. Overall, the techniques and approaches used in this study have proven to be useful in defining sheep FEs. The results observed for 21WT, UMD and UFD, using the reaction norm models, indicate that in order to improve genetic gain and flock efficiency, future genetic evaluations would benefit by accounting for the G × E observed.Keywords: sheep, reaction norms, genotype × environment interactions, environmental sensitivity ImplicationsAlthough there are a wide range of different sheep farming systems in the United Kingdom, there is relatively little information with regards to the extent of genotype by environment interactions and environmental sensitivity present within the industry. This study has demonstrated an approach for defining sheep farm environments (FEs), which was then used in the reaction norm analyses of Texel sheep. A range of sire sensitivities were observed across the different environments. The ability to identify this variation in sensitivities could allow the identification and selection of sires predicted to best suit specific FE, thus improving flock performance.

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Genotype by environment interaction for first-lactation female fertility traits in UK dairy cattle

Cited by 59 publications

References 8 publications

Reaction norms for the study of genotype-environment interaction for growth and indicator traits of sexual precocity in Nellore cattle

Reaction norms for the study of genotype-environment interaction for growth and indicator traits of sexual precocity in Nellore cattle

Review: Towards the agroecological management of ruminants, pigs and poultry through the development of sustainable breeding programmes: I-selection goals and criteria

The effects of different farm environments on the performance of Texel sheep

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