Journal of animal science最新文献

{"title":"Genetic investigations into the use of sensory evaluation: The case of boar taint discrimination in Pietrain sired crossbreds","authors":"Alice Markey, Christine Groβe-Brinkhaus, Daniel Mörlein, Johanna Mörlein, Hélène Wilmot, Ernst Tholen, Nicolas Gengler","doi":"10.1093/jas/skae389","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae389","url":null,"abstract":"Using genetic selection for raising intact boars, which improves growth and feed efficiency, is a promising alternative to castration for mitigating boar taint. Selective breeding has the potential to help to identify and select for genetic lines with a reduced risk of boar taint. Common phenotypes are laboratory measurements of skatole (SKA) and androstenone (ANON) i.e., the major compounds responsible for boar taint, in backfat. However, an alternative exists: sensory evaluation by human assessors. The objectives of this study were (1) to estimate the genetic relationships among sensory scores (SENS) obtained by different assessors, (2) to correlate these scores with SKA and ANON, (3) to establish the independence of SENS from the causal traits, here SKA and ANON, by recursive modeling, holding those constant, and (4) to combine different assessors to allow an efficient selection against boar taint. Data included up to 1016 records of SKA, ANON and SENS (0 to 5) from 10 trained assessors on the backfat of intact males reared at least until puberty at three performance testing stations testing the products of Pietrain × commercial crossbred sows. Genetic parameters were estimated using restricted estimate maximum likelihood. Traits SKA and ANON were log (base 10) transformed (SKAt and ANONt) and SENS traits were Snell transformed SENS (SENSt). Heritability estimates were 0.52 for SKAt and 0.53 for ANONt, those for SENSt ranged from 0.07 to 0.30. Moderate to high genetic correlations between some SENSt and SKAt (up to 0.87) and ANONt (up to 0.61) were found. Heritabilities and correlations indicated that some SENSt could be used to select against boar taint. Studying the independence of SENSt from SKAt and ANONt based on a posteriori recursive model revealed a large range of reductions of genetic variance: up to 71.08 %. However, some SENSt remained moderately heritable (0.04 to 0.19) indicating independent genetic variance from SKAt and ANONt. This reflects that some heritable compounds potentially not related to SKA or ANON are perceived. Finally, the combination of assessors allowed, here shown with three assessors, to obtain a high heritability of 0.40, associated to high genetic and phenotypic correlations. Moreover, these results demonstrate the potential of using the sensory scores of several trained assessors for selection against boar taint.","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142884222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of multispecies fungal extract supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, ruminal fermentation, and the rumen microbiome composition of beef cattle fed forage-based diets","authors":"Alejandro M Pittaluga, Florencia E Miccoli, Leandro D Guerrero, Alejandro E Relling","doi":"10.1093/jas/skae387","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae387","url":null,"abstract":"Our objective was to evaluate the effect of a multispecies fungal extract (MFE) on growth performance, apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD), fermentation characteristics, and rumen microbiome composition of beef cattle fed forage-based diets. For experiment 1, ruminally cannulated Angus × SimAngus cows (n = 4; body weight [BW] = 569 ± 21 kg) were used in a randomized crossover design with two 21-d study periods and a 23-d washout period to evaluate the effect of dietary inclusion of a MFE on in situ digestion, ruminal fermentation, and the composition of the rumen microbiome. Treatments consisted of a forage-based diet with or without the inclusion of a MFE. Rumen samples were collected on days 5, 10, and 20. Experiment 2 evaluated different inclusion rates of the MFE in a randomized complete block design using Angus × SimAngus-crossbred steers (n = 80; BW = 370 ± 44 kg). Steers were blocked by BW and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments (2 pens/treatment): diet with no MFE, 0.02%, 0.04%, and 0.08% of the MFE (dry matter (DM) basis). Steers were fed a forage-based diet for 122 d. Subsets of 10 steers/treatment were randomly selected for the determination of ATTD on d 20, 40, and 60. All data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS. In exp 1, adding the MFE to the diet tended to increase the ruminal disappearance rate of the DM on d 10 (P = 0.06). No interactions or treatment effects were observed for the short-chain fatty acid profile of the rumen fluid (P ≥ 0.13). Metagenomic analysis of the rumen microbiome showed a MFE × d interaction for the Fibrobacter genus (P = 0.01), which on d 20 was less abundant in the rumen of cows fed the MFE. In exp 2, steers supplemented with 0.04% of MFE had a lower average daily gain and were lighter at the end of the experiment (cubic, P ≤ 0.04) compared to steers supplemented with 0.02% MFE. Steers fed the diet with 0.02% of MFE had the greatest gain to feed ratio among the MFE-supplemented groups (cubic, P < 0.01). Dietary inclusion of the MFE increased neutral detergent fiber digestibility (linear, P = 0.05). Steers supplemented with 0.04% of MFE had the greatest acid detergent fiber digestibility among treatments (quadratic, P = 0.03). Collectively, results showed that ruminal disappearance rate and digestibility of forage-based diets increased due to MFE supplementation, but did not translate into growth performance improvements or beneficially alter rumen fermentation.","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":"293 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142884190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mogroside V protects Lipopolysaccharides-induced lung inflammation chicken via suppressing inflammation mediated by the Th17 through the gut-lung axis.","authors":"Yuan Li, Kai Wang, Dan Shen, Junze Liu, Sheng Li, Luyao Liu, Kentaro Nagaoka, Chunmei Li","doi":"10.1093/jas/skae388","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae388","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure triggers pulmonary inflammation, leading to compromised lung function in broiler. As amplified by policy restrictions on antibiotic usage, seeking antibiotic alternatives has become imperative. Mogroside V (MGV) has been reported to have a beneficial role in livestock and poultry production due to its remarkable anti-inflammatory effects. Despite evidence showcasing MGV's efficacy against LPS-triggered lung inflammation, its precise mechanism of action remains elusive. In this study, we transplanted normal fecal microbiota (CF), fecal microbiota modified by MGV (MF), and sterile fecal filtrate (MS) into broiler with LPS-induced pneumonia. The results showed that through fecal microbiota transplantation, transplanting MGV-induced microbial populations significantly mitigated tissue damage induced by LPS and enhanced the mRNA level of pulmonary tight junction proteins and mucoprotein (P < 0.01). The expression levels of RORα (P < 0.001), Foxp3 (P < 0.01) and PD-L1 (P < 0.01) were significantly increased in the MF group than CF group. The concentrations of IL-6 and IL-17 in broilers lung tissue of MF group were lower than those in broilers of CF group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the concentration of TGF-β in broilers serum of MS and MF groups was higher than those in broilers of control group (P < 0.05). Microbial community analysis demonstrated that at genus level, the harmful bacterial populations Escherichia-shigella and Helicobacter following FMT treatment was significantly reduced in MF group (P < 0.05), potentially mediating its protective effects. Compared with CF group, valerate content and FFAR2 mRNA expression levels in MF group were significantly increased (P < 0.05). The study suggests that MGV via the gut-lung axis, attenuates Th17-mediated inflammation, offering promise as a therapeutic strategy against LPS-induced lung inflammation in chickens.</p>","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142882103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Differences in severity of reticulo-rumen pH drop in primiparous Holstein cows fed the same diet during transition and early lactation: effects on performance, energy balance, blood metabolites, and reproduction","authors":"Ezequias Castillo-Lopez, Thomas Hartinger, Mohsen M Farghaly, Nicole Reisinger, Claudia Lang, Laura Klambauer, Johann Huber, Qendrim Zebeli","doi":"10.1093/jas/skae390","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae390","url":null,"abstract":"We recently reported factors leading to different severity of ruminal pH drop in primiparous cows fed the same diet during transition and early lactation. The present study evaluates the effects of those severities on performance and several blood and balance parameters in the same 24 primiparous cows from 3 wk before calving until wk 10 in lactation. Dietary concentrate was increased for all cows from 32 before calving to 60% (DM basis) over the first wk in lactation, resulting in a diet with 40% non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC), and 14.4% physically effective fiber (peNDF&amp;gt;8). Ruminal pH was monitored with indwelling systems in all cows during the study; then several indices of duration and magnitude of pH change were used as indicators of the severity of ruminal pH drop. Accordingly, as reported in the companion paper, the cows were classified as either higher pH drop (HIGH; n = 9), moderate (MOD; n = 9) and lower (LOW; n = 6) severity of pH drop. In the present report, body weight, body condition score, and back fat thickness decreased but rumen mucosa thickness increased after calving in all cows (P &amp;lt; 0.05). Post-partum daily energy intake in HIGH was greater (P &amp;lt; 0.05) than the other categories. In addition, there were 5.6 kg extra of energy-corrected milk in HIGH (P &amp;lt; 0.05). Independent of severity of pH drop, blood glucose, non-esterified fatty acids, beta-hydroxybutyrate, bilirubin and cortisol were higher, whereas triglycerides, total protein, globulin, albumin, urea nitrogen, cholesterol, calcium and phosphorous were lower at calving (P &amp;lt; 0.05). Blood cholesterol was greater in HIGH than the other pH categories (P &amp;lt; 0.05); insulin and reproductive variables were not affected by severity of pH drop. Overall, primiparous cows fed the same diet showed different severity of ruminal pH drop, but the individual variation in ruminal pH depression was not related to a negative impact on milk yield, energy balance or blood metabolites during the study. This indicates that the impact of low ruminal pH on the animals may depend not only on severity of the pH drop (average of 403 min/d of pH&amp;lt;5.8 over 13 wk) but also on diet characteristics. Specifically, drops of ruminal pH can be tolerated by primiparous cows during the first 10 wk in milk consuming a diet containing 40% NFC and 14.4% peNDF&amp;gt;8. It would be worth studying the severity of ruminal pH drop in a larger sample size during the entire lactation and if the severity is sustained on the next lactation.","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142884221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Graded Supplemental Choline Chloride Fed Throughout the Grow and Finish Periods Elicited Minimal Influence on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Pigs in a Commercial Setting.","authors":"Kaitlyn M Sommer, Elli S Burris, Julianna C Jespersen, Kari Estes, Anna C Dilger, Ryan N Dilger","doi":"10.1093/jas/skae386","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae386","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Choline is vital in a variety of physiological processes that influence brain development, growth, and carcass characteristics in birds and mammals. In this study, we investigated the influence of graded supplemental choline chloride on growth performance, carcass quality, and liver characteristics in grow-finish pigs. Pigs (672 barrows and 588 gilts) were obtained from a commercial nursery facility at 8 weeks of age and assigned to treatment based on body weight and sex, with 21 same-sex pigs comprising a replicate pen. Each dietary treatment was provided to 15 replicate pens, with 8 pens of barrows and 7 pens of gilts per each of 4 dietary treatments, which included: 1) C0, basal diet containing 0% of supplemental choline chloride; 2) C300, C0 + 0.06% supplemental choline chloride, to provide 300 mg/kg of choline ions; 3) C600, C0 + 0.12% supplemental choline chloride, to provide 600 mg/kg of choline ions; and 4) C900, C0 + 0.17% supplemental choline chloride, to provide 900 mg/kg of choline ions. Feed and water were provided ad libitum throughout the study and pigs were managed using standard commercial practices. Data were analyzed by 2-way ANOVA using the MIXED procedure of SAS, with factors including dietary treatment and sex. There was no dietary impact (P > 0.05) on growth performance. Pigs receiving intermediate levels of supplemental choline had higher (P < 0.05) tenderloin weights compared with other dietary treatments. Furthermore, and as expected, sex differences were denoted in both growth performance and carcass characteristics. Overall, graded supplementation of choline chloride did not significantly alter growth performance or carcass characteristics of pigs raised in a commercial setting.</p>","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142876857","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"LncRNA MSTRG.14227.1 regulates the morphogenesis of secondary hair follicles in inner mongolia cashmere goats via targeting ADAMTS3 by sponging chi-miR-433","authors":"Rong Ma, Min Wang, Qing Ma, Yiming Zhang, Fangzheng Shang, Ruijun Wang, Yanjun Zhang","doi":"10.1093/jas/skae382","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae382","url":null,"abstract":"The cashmere goat is a type of livestock primarily known for its cashmere. Cashmere has a soft hand feel and good luster. It is a vital raw material in the textile industry, possessing significant economic value. Improving the yield and quality of cashmere can accelerate the development of the cashmere industry and increase the incomes of farmers and herdsmen. The embryonic stage is the main stage of the formation of hair follicle structure, which directly affects the yield and quality of cashmere. With the rapid advancements in modern molecular technology and high-throughput sequencing, many signaling molecules have been identified as playing critical roles in hair follicle development. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), which lacks protein-coding ability and exceeds 200 nucleotides in length, has been discovered to play a role in hair follicle development. In this study, the lncRNA MSTRG.14227.1, which is associated with the morphogenesis of secondary hair follicles, was screened and identified based on previously established lncRNA expression profiles derived from skin tissues of cashmere goats at different embryonic stages. This lncRNA has been shown to inhibit the proliferation and migration of dermal fibroblasts. Furthermore, we confirmed through bioinformatics analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assays that lncRNA MSTRG.14227.1 can function as a sponge for chi-miR-433, thereby alleviating the inhibitory effect of chi-miR-433 on its target gene ADAMTS3. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that lncRNA MSTRG.14227.1 can inhibit the morphogenesis of secondary hair follicles through the chi-miR-433/ ADAMTS3 signaling axis.","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142879799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effect of electronic cooling pads and Moringa oleifera supplementation from late gestation to weaning on sow production performance under heat stress conditions.","authors":"Mc Keeley C Stansberry, Wonders Ogundare, Linda M Beckett, Leriana Garcia Reis, Evy M Tobolski, Uchenna Anele, Brian T Richert, Allan P Schinckel, Theresa M Casey, Radiah C Minor","doi":"10.1093/jas/skae356","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae356","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lactating sows and their litters are particularly vulnerable to heat stress (HS). Heat stress decreases sow fertility, feed intake, milk production, and litter growth. Approaches are needed to mitigate the negative effects of HS on animal welfare and oxidative damage to tissues. The objective of this study was to measure the efficacy of conductive heat removal using electronic cooling pads (ECP) and feeding Moringa oleifera (4% of the diet, M), a feedstuff high in antioxidants, to sows from late gestation to weaning on their welfare and production performance. A study was conducted using a 2 × 2 factorial design of treatments, with mixed parity Yorkshire x Landrace sows (n=48). The sows were exposed to moderate heat stress conditions from gestation d110 to d21 of lactation. To achieve moderate heat stress, farrowing room temperature was increased incrementally daily from 25 º C to 32º C between 0800-1100 and decreased from 32º C to 26 ºC between 1700-2000. Sows were limit fed during gestation (1.36 kg 2X/d) and fed ad libitum post farrowing. Treatments included HS+control corn-soybean meal based diet (HS+CS), HS+M, ECP+CS, ECP+M (n=12/treatment). Sow respiration rate (RR) and rectal temperature (RT) were measured 4-times daily (0600, 1300, 1600, 1900). The use of ECP decreased lactating sow RR (HS = 66.6 bpm, ECP = 28.3 bpm, P < 0.0001), RT (HS = 39.2 ºC, ECP =38.8 ºC, P = 0.003), and lactation BW loss (HS= -21.67 kg, ECP = -5.1 kg P = 0.002). ECP by time-of-day interactions (P < 0.01) existed for RR and RT, with ECP having a greater impact from 1300 to 1900, than at 0600. ECP increased lactation feed intake (P = 0.02). An ECP by diet interaction (P= 0.0004) indicated ECP increased lactation feed intake for the sows fed the CS diet (6.48 kg/d vs 4.42 kg/d, P = 0.0004), but did not affect feed intake of sows fed the M diet. Treatment did not affect litter weaning weight (P = 0.14). Moringa increased percent fat in milk (M=12.28%, CS =11.06%, P = 0.05). The reduction in sow RR, RT, and increased feed intake with lower loss of BW, indicate that ECP improved sow wellbeing in the HS environment. Neither ECP or M affected litter growth, despite M increasing fat content of milk and ECP-CS increasing feed intake.</p>","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142864255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Polyamines Protect Porcine Sperm from Lipopolysaccharide-induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Apoptosis via Casein Kinase 2 Activation.","authors":"Rongnan Li, Xiaodong Wu, Jia Chen, Zhendong Zhu, Ming Guo, Guochao Hou, Tianjiao Li, Yi Zheng, Haidong Ma, Hongzhao Lu, Wenxian Zeng, Tao Zhang, Xiaoxu Chen","doi":"10.1093/jas/skae383","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae383","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bacterial contamination is an inevitable issue during the processing of semen preservation in pigs. As a prototypical endotoxin from Gram-negative bacteria in semen, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) undermines sperm function during liquid preservation. Spermine and spermidine could protect cells against LPS-induced injury, and the content of spermine and spermidine in seminal plasma is positively correlated with sperm quality. Thus, the present study aimed to clarify whether addition of spermine or spermidine is beneficial to porcine semen preservation and able to prevent LPS-induced sperm damage. The supplementation of spermine and spermidine in the diluent resulted in higher sperm motility, viability, acrosome integrity, and mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) after preservation in vitro at 17 °C for 7 d (P < 0.05). LPS induced sperm quality deterioration, ΔΨm decline, cellular adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) depletion, mitochondrial ultrastructure abnormality, mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) opening, phosphatidylserine (PS) translocation, and caspase-3 activation (P < 0.05). Interestingly, spermine and spermidine alleviated the LPS-induced changes of the aforementioned parameters and mitigated the decrease in the microtubule-associated protein light chain 3-II (LC3-II) to LC3-I ratio. Meanwhile, the α and β subunits of casein kinase 2 (CK2) were detected at the connecting piece and the tail. Significantly, addition of 4,5,6,7-tetrabromobenzotriazole (TBB), a specific CK2 inhibitor, counteracted the beneficial effects of spermine and spermidine on sperm quality, mitochondrial activity, and apoptosis. Together, these results suggest that spermine and spermidine improve sperm quality and the efficiency of liquid preservation of porcine semen. Furthermore, spermine and spermidine alleviate LPS-induced sperm mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in a CK2-dependent manner.</p>","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142864252","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quantifying phenotypic and genetic variation for cow fertility phenotypes in American Simmental using total herd reporting data.","authors":"Cassidy C Catrett, Sarah E Moorey, Jon E Beever, Troy N Rowan","doi":"10.1093/jas/skae364","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae364","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Reproduction plays a major role in the production efficiency of livestock species. However, cow-centric reproductive traits tend to be lowly heritable and are not expressed until later in an animal's lifetime, making phenotypic selection alone inefficient at generating genetic gain. Genetic progress can be accelerated by focusing selection on the predicted genetic component of reproductive traits using Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs). We used the American Simmental Association's performance and Total Herd Enrollment data, made up of 533,155 calving records from 303,158 females (132,403 cows and 170,755 heifers), 33,732 of which are genotyped, to explore three continuous and two discrete phenotypes focused on quantifying early and sustained fertility in beef cows. We analyzed calving date (cow's calving date relative to the start of the calving season), calving interval (days between calves), first calving interval (calving interval observation between the first and second calving record for a female), heifer pregnancy (did the animal calve as 2-year-old), and discrete early calving (did animal calve in the first 30 days of the calving season) as distinct, but correlated measures of fertility. This dataset provides insight into population-wide trends related to cow attrition, calving season lengths, and phenotypic variation in fertility. We used pedigree and genomic REML to estimate these six phenotypes' genetic, permanent environment, and temporary environmental variance components. Pedigree estimated heritabilities were 0.06 (±0.000011) for calving date, (0.04 ±0.000005) for calving interval, 0.07 (±0.000016) for discrete early calving, 0.05 ±0.000041 for first calving interval, and 0.23 (±0.000099) for heifer pregnancy, consistent with other fertility traits across beef and dairy cattle. The incorporation of genomics increased the heritability estimate for heifer pregnancy (0.24 ±0.000098) and decreased the estimate for first calving interval (0.04 ±0.000029). Positive phenotypic and genetic correlations were found among these phenotypes (rG = 0.01-0.96). These results call for further work in optimizing genetic predictions and exploration of the genetic architecture through genome-wide studies. Whole herd reporting date frameworks represent opportunities for measuring new reproductive phenotypes, but their utility in genetic evaluations will rely on novel trait initiatives and consistent recording that captures more detailed data.</p>","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142854245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of dietary supplementation of beef cows with rumen-protected methionine during the periconceptional period on prenatal growth and performance to weaning","authors":"Daniella Heredia, Federico Tarnonsky, Maria C Lopez-Duarte, Mauro Venturini, Federico Podversich, Oscar A Ojeda-Rojas, Francisco Peñagaricano, Ricardo C Chebel, Daniel Luchini, Peter J Hansen, Nicolas DiLorenzo, Angela M Gonella-Diaza","doi":"10.1093/jas/skae384","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae384","url":null,"abstract":"Changes in maternal nutrition during the periconceptional period can influence postnatal growth in cattle. This study aimed to identify the impact of supplementing beef cows with rumen-protected methionine (RP-Met) during the periconceptional period on their female progeny. In exp 1, plasma methionine (Met) levels were analyzed in samples from 10 Angus crossbred, non-lactating beef cows. Cows were randomly assigned to receive 454 g of cottonseed meal with 15 g/d of RP-Met (RPM; Smartamine M, Adisseo) or not (CON) for 5 d and data were analyzed as a completely randomized design with repeated measures. A treatment-by-day interaction was observed (P &amp;lt; 0.001), where plasma Met concentrations increased in the RPM treatment yet remained basal in CON. In exp 2, 114 cows were fed a roughage-based diet and randomized to receive 454 g/d of corn gluten supplemented with 15 g/d of RP-Met (RPM n = 56) or not (CON n = 58) from d -7 to 7 relative to timed artificial insemination (TAI) using sexed semen to obtain females. Amino acids were measured in plasma samples from d -8, 0, and 7 in cows. In the female progeny, body weight, withers height, body length, and heart girth were measured every 60 d from birth through weaning at an average age of 242 ± 5.8 d. Liver, adipose tissue, and longissimus dorsi muscle biopsies were collected at 187.88 ± 5.5 d of age and a subset of 20 random samples (CON = 10; RPM = 10) were selected for RNA-seq on each tissue. data were analyzed as a generalized randomized block design with repeated measures. Methionine was increased (P &amp;lt; 0.01) in plasma from cows in the RPM treatment on d 0 and 7. After calving, 34 female calves (CON = 16; RPM = 18) remained in the study and no difference was observed in birth weights between treatments. Calves were taller at the withers for RPM than CON (P = 0.03; CON = 92 ± 1.0 cm; RPM = 95 ± 1 cm) but there were no effects of treatment on other measures of body size. A total of 30, 24, and 2 differentially expressed genes (DEGs; P &amp;lt; 0.01) were observed in liver, longissimus dorsi muscle, and adipose tissue respectively. In summary, feeding RP-Met to cows in the periconceptional period resulted in female calves that were taller than CON before weaning. There were DEGs in the tissue samples but no other changes in measurements associated with body size. In conclusion, supplementation of RP-Met to beef cows during the periconceptional period caused minor changes in the female offspring before weaning.","PeriodicalId":14895,"journal":{"name":"Journal of animal science","volume":"265 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142867123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}