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Genetic parameters for milk, growth, and reproductive traits in Guzerá cattle under tropical conditions

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Abstract

This study aimed to estimate the genetic parameters of milk (305-day milk yield (MY305)), growth (weaning weight (WW), yearling weight (YW), and weight at 550 days (W550)), and reproductive (age at first calving (AFC)) traits in Guzerá cattle by using Bayesian multiple-trait models. Systematic effects included sex and age at calving for the growth and milk traits, respectively. The additive genetic and contemporary groups (herd and year and season of birth) were included as random effects. Additionally, maternal genetic and permanent effects were also included as random effects for the WW. The heritability estimates were 0.29 (MY305), 0.42 (WW), 0.49 (YW), 0.56 (W550), and 0.25 (AFC). The genetic correlations among the growth traits were higher than 0.83; between the MY305 and WW, MY305 and YW, and MY305 and W550, the genetic correlations were 0.25, 0.32, and 0.36, respectively. The AFC was negatively correlated with the milk and growth traits. These results suggest the viability and potential of the joint selection for milk, beef, and reproductive traits in Guzerá cattle.

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Acknowledgements

We kindly thank the Centro Brasileiro de Melhoramento Genético do Guzerá (CBMG2) and Associação Brasileira de Criadores de Zebu (ABCZ) for providing datasets.

Funding

We gratefully thank the funding agencies Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, grant number PROEX 320.020.170.11pq), Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia (INCT, grant number 465377/2014-9), and Sistema Embrapa de Gestão (SEG, grant number 02.13.05.010.00.00).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Science, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Laís Costa Brito, Eula Regina Carrara, Fabyano Fonseca e Silva & Paulo Sávio Lopes

  2. Embrapa Dairy Cattle, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Maria Gabriela Campolina Diniz Peixoto & Frank Angelo Tomita Bruneli

  3. Brazilian Association of Zebu Breeders, Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Henrique Torres Ventura

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  1. Laís Costa Brito
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  2. Maria Gabriela Campolina Diniz Peixoto
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  3. Eula Regina Carrara
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  4. Fabyano Fonseca e Silva
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  5. Henrique Torres Ventura
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  6. Frank Angelo Tomita Bruneli
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  7. Paulo Sávio Lopes
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Correspondence to Paulo Sávio Lopes.

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The approval of the animal care and use committee was not needed because this research used existing datasets, historically collected by the animal breeding program.

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Brito, L.C., Peixoto, M.G.C.D., Carrara, E.R. et al. Genetic parameters for milk, growth, and reproductive traits in Guzerá cattle under tropical conditions. Trop Anim Health Prod 52, 2251–2257 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-020-02255-0

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