Laura Hüneke, Hatem Alkhoder, Dierck Segelke, Georg Thaller, Christin Schmidtmann
{"title":"Unravelling Twin Births in German Holstein Cows: Phenotypic Associations, Genetic Analysis and Potential Underlying Genes and Hormones.","authors":"Laura Hüneke, Hatem Alkhoder, Dierck Segelke, Georg Thaller, Christin Schmidtmann","doi":"10.1111/jbg.70012","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Twin births in dairy cattle are rare but present significant challenges for animal welfare, as both the health of the cow and the calves are affected. This causes economic losses, which prompts breeders to select against twin births and identify associated risk factors. This study examines the phenotypic relationship between milk yield, fertility traits and twin births in German Holstein cattle using a large, population-wide dataset. GEBV correlations for twin births, milk production and fertility traits were estimated. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were conducted for calving numbers 1-3 in order to explore the genetic background in more detail. The twin birth rate showed a strong phenotypic association with milk production and a moderate phenotypic association with the timing of successful insemination. However, GEBV correlations were low: 0.04 with milk yield and -0.10 to 0.01 with fertility traits. GWAS revealed two potential candidate genes on BTA11: LHCGR and FSHR, which encode receptors for LH and FSH, two hormones crucial to estrus. In contrast to the first calving, significantly associated regions on BTA5 and BTA25 were found in calving numbers 2 and 3. This study demonstrates the interaction between genotype and environment, concluding that a genetic predisposition for twin births, in combination with a favourable endocrine state (environment), increases the likelihood of twin births.</p>","PeriodicalId":54885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jbg.70012","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Twin births in dairy cattle are rare but present significant challenges for animal welfare, as both the health of the cow and the calves are affected. This causes economic losses, which prompts breeders to select against twin births and identify associated risk factors. This study examines the phenotypic relationship between milk yield, fertility traits and twin births in German Holstein cattle using a large, population-wide dataset. GEBV correlations for twin births, milk production and fertility traits were estimated. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were conducted for calving numbers 1-3 in order to explore the genetic background in more detail. The twin birth rate showed a strong phenotypic association with milk production and a moderate phenotypic association with the timing of successful insemination. However, GEBV correlations were low: 0.04 with milk yield and -0.10 to 0.01 with fertility traits. GWAS revealed two potential candidate genes on BTA11: LHCGR and FSHR, which encode receptors for LH and FSH, two hormones crucial to estrus. In contrast to the first calving, significantly associated regions on BTA5 and BTA25 were found in calving numbers 2 and 3. This study demonstrates the interaction between genotype and environment, concluding that a genetic predisposition for twin births, in combination with a favourable endocrine state (environment), increases the likelihood of twin births.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics publishes original articles by international scientists on genomic selection, and any other topic related to breeding programmes, selection, quantitative genetic, genomics, diversity and evolution of domestic animals. Researchers, teachers, and the animal breeding industry will find the reports of interest. Book reviews appear in many issues.