Immune competence traits assessed during the stress of weaning are heritable and favorably genetically correlated with temperament traits in Angus cattle1

Abstract

Selection for production traits with little or no emphasis on health-related traits has the potential to increase susceptibility to disease in food-producing animals. A possible genetic strategy to mitigate such effects is to include both production and health traits in the breeding objective when selecting animals. For this to occur, reliable methodologies are required to assess beneficial health traits, such as the immune capacity of animals. We describe here a methodology to assess the immune competence of beef cattle which is both practical to apply on farm and does not restrict the future sale of tested animals. The methodology also accommodates variation in prior vaccination history of cohorts of animals being tested. In the present study, the immune competence phenotype of 1,100 Angus calves was assessed during yard weaning. Genetic parameters associated with immune competence traits were estimated and associations between immune competence, temperament, and stress-coping ability traits were investigated. Results suggested that immune competence traits, related to an animal’s ability to mount both antibody and cell-mediated immune responses, are moderately heritable (h2 = 0.32 ± 0.09 and 0.27 ± 0.08, respectively) and favorably genetically correlated with the temperament trait, flight time (r = 0.63 ± 0.31 and 0.60 ± 0.29 with antibody and cell-mediated immune responses, respectively). Development of methodologies to assess the immune competence phenotype of beef cattle is a critical first step in the establishment of genetic selection strategies aimed at improving the general disease resistance of beef herds. Strategies aimed at reducing the incidence of disease in beef cattle are expected to significantly improve animal health and welfare, reduce reliance on the use of antibiotics to treat disease, and reduce disease-associated costs incurred by producers.

Adrenergic Tone as an Intermediary in the Temperament Syndrome Associated With Flight Speed in Beef Cattle

“…Antibody titers to Leptospira were significantly higher in the low FS group (Bruno et al, 2018). In 1149 Angus calves receiving clostridial vaccination during the stress of yard weaning, IgG antibody responses to tetanus toxoid, and delayed type hypersensitivity responses to intradermal injection of clostridial antigens were not phenotypically correlated with FS, however favorable genetic correlations were seen for both immune function traits (Hine et al, 2019). Thus, docile temperament was genetically correlated with elevated adaptive immune responses.…”

“…Failure of metabolic profiles to habituate despite behavioral habituation to handling would support the distributed multiplex homeorhetic model of temperament regulation. In addition, further studies on bias of immune responses toward inflammatory activity rather than adaptive immunity are warranted, together with further studies on associations of flightiness with immune competence (Hine et al, 2015(Hine et al, , 2019. The influence of dopamine release as a component of adrenergic tone on immune function also deserves attention (Matt and Gaskill, 2019;Broome et al, 2020).…”

“…Calves were the progeny of 47 sires used in a sire genetic benchmarking program and were born and raised at pasture in a single contemporary management group. Adapted from Hine et al (2019). et al, 2009b;Cafe et al, 2011a) which aligns more closely with the multi-dimensional construct of temperament used more broadly in the behavioral ecology and psychology literatures (Réale et al, 2007;Koolhaas et al, 2010;MacKay and Haskell, 2015;Finkemeier et al, 2018;Capitanio and Mason, 2019).…”

“…Persistent patterns of behavioral activity that are repeated in different environmental contexts or repeated across time within a single context are considered to reflect an aspect of the individual's temperament or personality (Lyons et al, 1988;Réale et al, 2007;Koolhaas et al, 2010;MacKay and Haskell, 2015;Finkemeier et al, 2018). For humans and farm animals, these ecological interactions between temperament traits and stress and immune response pathways (Benus et al, 1991;Koolhaas et al, 1999;Koolhaas, 2008;Burdick et al, 2011b;Capitanio, 2011;Hine et al, 2019) gain clinical importance through their influence on disease susceptibility, welfare, and livestock production (Segerstrom, 2003;Haskell et al, 2014;Koolhaas and van Reenen, 2016).…”

Welfare of beef cattle in Australian feedlots: a review of the risks and measures

“…Very nervous, violent movements, rearing, attempting to jump out et al 2011b), and reduced immune function (Fell et al 1999;Hine et al 2019).…”