Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics最新文献

{"title":"Genetic and Phenotypic Correlations Among Growth, Disease Occurrence, and Reproductive Performance From Calf to Heifer in Girolando Dairy Cattle.","authors":"Laura B da C Pereira, Viviane A Ligori, Hinayah R de Oliveira, Eula R Carrara, Carolina A de S D Muniz, Edson L de A Ribeiro, Lenira E F Zadra","doi":"10.1111/jbg.70072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jbg.70072","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Girolando breed, a cross between Holstein (Bos taurus) and Gir (Bos indicus), is the primary choice for dairy production in Brazilian tropical regions, as it combines high productive potential with adaptation to the tropical environment. Since the pre-weaning period is crucial for development, this study aimed to evaluate genetic and phenotypic associations among growth, health, and reproductive traits in Girolando cattle. The dataset included 15,311 heifers born between 2017 and 2024. Traits evaluated included birth weight (BW), weaning weight (W70), and average daily gain (ADG); health traits: diarrhoea (CD), pneumonia (BP), umbilical infection (UI), and tick fever (TF); and heifer reproduction: age at first calving (AFC). (Co)variance components were estimated using an animal mixed model under Bayesian inference. Single-trait analyses estimated heritabilities, while three-trait analyses estimated correlations among traits. Heritabilities ranged from low to moderate, with higher values for BW (0.27) and W70 (0.27), and lower for ADG (0.17), AFC (0.07), and diseases (0.04 to 0.13). Favourable genetic correlations were observed between growth and reproductive precocity, specifically ADG × AFC (-0.75), indicating that animals with higher growth performance tend to have reduced AFC. However, UI showed unfavourable genetic correlations with growth traits (BW = 0.75; W70 = 0.69; ADG = 0.50). Given that umbilical infections typically occur in the first weeks of life prior to the main growth period, these associations should be interpreted with caution, as they represent underlying genetic relationships rather than direct linear causality. Phenotypic correlations followed similar patterns but with a lower magnitude. These results confirm that growth, calf health, and reproduction are genetically correlated, reinforcing the importance of integrated selection programs to promote productive efficiency and calf health in tropical dairy systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":54885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148889507","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic Parameters for Feed Efficiency Indicator Traits in a Rotational Crossbreed Sow Population During Lactation Period.","authors":"S Aikins-Wilson, S F U Vanvanhossou, P Engel, S König","doi":"10.1111/jbg.70073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jbg.70073","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The selection of feed efficient sows effectively converting feed into milk production and body weight gain will contribute to the overall profitability of pig farming systems. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to estimate genetic parameters for feed efficiency indicator traits during the sow lactation period, and to infer respective genetic and phenotypic relationships. Daily feed intake (FI), milk yield (MY), sow weight at farrowing (SWF), litter birth weight (LBW), sow weight at weaning (SWW) and litter weaning weight (LWW) were recorded between 2015 and 2024 on a total of 2418 lactating sows consisting of rotational crosses between German Landrace and German Edelschwein, kept in the University Giessen research herd. The dataset was used to predict different feed efficiency indicator traits including average daily feed intake (ADFI), residual feed intake (RFI), residual gain (RG), residual feed intake and weight gain (RIG), lactation efficiency (LE), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and metabolizable energy for maintenance (MEm). Growth indicator traits were average daily sow weight gain (ADG) and growth rate per litter (GR_L). (Co)variance components for feed efficiency indicator traits, growth indicators and MY were estimated by applying multiple-trait repeatability animal models via Gibbs sampling. Posterior means for heritability estimates (± posterior SD) for feed efficiency indicators were mostly moderate, that is, 0.14 ± 0.02 for ADFI, 0.28 ± 0.04 for RG, 0.19 ± 0.03 for RIG, 0.14 ± 0.02 for RFI, 0.21 ± 0.04 for FCR, 0.11 ± 0.04 for LE and 0.27 ± 0.03 for MEm, accompanied with moderate additive-genetic variation. Milk production and growth indicators displayed moderate posterior heritability estimates with 0.22 ± 0.03 for MY, 0.27 ± 0.02 for ADG and 0.13 ± 0.02 for GR_L. The posterior means of genetic correlations among feed efficiency indicator traits were consistent with their corresponding phenotypic correlations, displaying similar magnitudes and same signs. Largest genetic correlations were estimated between RG and RIG (0.85 ± 0.02) and between FCR and LE (0.96 ± 0.01). The strong genetic correlation between LE and ADG (0.70 ± 0.13) reflects the increased energy demand for milk production during lactation, also expressed in the genetically negative correlation between LE and GR_L (-0.57 ± 0.12). Correlations between MY and ADG were genetically (-0.71 ± 0.08) and phenotypically (-0.40 ± 0.11) negative. Genetic and phenotypic correlations between RFI and ADG close to zero suggest the integration of RFI into breeding indices without compromising growth traits.</p>","PeriodicalId":54885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148875690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unraveling Biotypes Related to Thermotolerance During Lactation in Maternal-Line Pigs Through Principal Component and Factor Analyses.","authors":"Cassiane Gomes Dos Santos, Renata Veroneze, Artur O Rocha, Hinayah Rojas de Oliveira, Letícia Fernanda de Oliveira, Jay S Johnson, Pedro H F Freitas, Hui Wen, Allan P Schinckel, Luiz F Brito","doi":"10.1111/jbg.70071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jbg.70071","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Heat stress imposes significant challenges to welfare, health, and productivity of lactating sows due to their limited thermoregulatory capacity and increased metabolic heat load. Genetic selection for improved heat tolerance is a promising yet complex approach, given the large number of biological processes involved in heat stress response. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to unravel biotypes related to thermotolerance in lactating sows using a multivariate approach. A total of 37 traits, including physiological, behavioural, and anatomical measures, as well as climatic resilience indicators derived from automatically recorded vaginal temperature data, were included in the study. Phenotypic data were collected between June and July 2021 in 1645 multiparous Landrace × Large White sows housed under commercial conditions in North Carolina (United States). The additive genetic correlation matrix among these traits was used for performing multivariate analyses (principal component analysis and factor analysis). Heritability estimates ranged from 0.04 for ear skin temperature (TES) to 0.39 for ear area (EA), whereas repeatability estimates ranged from 0.10 for TES to 0.58 for vaginal temperature measured at 12:00 h (TV12h). Genetic correlations were high and positive among surface temperature traits (0.76-0.79) and among vaginal temperature measures and their derived climatic resilience indicators (0.62-0.99), whereas correlations of these temperature-related traits with morphological and behavioural traits were generally low to moderate. Four principal components and common factors were extracted, explaining 71.20% of the total variance of the data. However, a factor analysis using an orthogonal Varimax rotation was superior in isolating distinct and conceptually clear biotypes. The first factor, which explained 38.80% of the total variance, was named \"Core body temperature\" and was defined primarily by multiple vaginal temperature measures and climatic resilience indicators. The second factor (12.61% of the total variance) was labelled \"Heat dissipation measures\", which grouped skin temperatures, panting scores, and respiration rate traits. The third factor (11.68% of the total variance) was interpreted as \"Vaginal temperature dynamics\" and showed both positive and negative loadings, contrasting vaginal temperature variability with its autocorrelation and skewness. Finally, the fourth factor (8.11% of the total variance), referred to as \"Stress reactivity and morphology\", was defined by a contrast between traits with positive loadings (responsiveness scores, vocalization, and hair density) and traits with negative loadings (body size and body condition). By successfully reducing 37 traits into four interpretable latent profiles, these factors could serve as breeding objectives, steering towards more holistic selection strategies to better understand how pigs adapt to increasingly challenging climatic conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":54885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148867866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Estimation of Genetic Parameters and Genetic Trends for Growth and Reproductive Traits in Mashona Cattle.","authors":"Maxman Gomo, Luiz F Brito, Artur O Rocha, Carina Visser","doi":"10.1111/jbg.70070","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jbg.70070","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mashona cattle are an indigenous Sanga cattle breed from Zimbabwe, used for beef production and known for their mothering ability and adaptation to harsh tropical environments. Growth and reproductive traits are key determinants of efficiency in beef production. In this context, the main objectives of this study were to estimate (co)variance components and genetic parameters for growth and reproductive traits in registered Zimbabwean Mashona cattle and evaluate individual estimated breeding value (EBV) accuracies, genetic trends and the expected response to selection for these traits. Records of 15,020 animals born between 1960 and 2025 were analysed for birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), yearling weight (YW), final weight (FW), mature cow weight (MW), pre- and post-weaning average daily gain (ADG) traits, age at first calving (AFC) and inter-calving period (ICP), with records ranging from 865 for pre-weaning ADG traits to 7034 for WW. Growth trait means ranged from 27.07 ± 3.80 kg (BW) to 363.53 ± 50.13 kg (MW), while AFC and ICP averaged 1073.18 ± 152.19 and 496.11 ± 113.04 days, respectively. Direct heritability estimates for growth traits were moderate to high (0.20 ± 0.03 for YW to 0.45 ± 0.03 for WW), with maternal heritability low for BW (0.10 ± 0.03) and moderate for WW (0.20 ± 0.02). Heritability estimates for ADG ranged from low at post-weaning (0.07 ± 0.02) to moderate at pre-weaning (0.33 ± 0.11), whereas reproductive traits were lowly heritable (AFC = 0.04 ± 0.03; ICP = 0.12 ± 0.04). Strong positive genetic correlations were generally observed among most body weight traits (0.66-0.98), whereas genetic correlations involving reproductive traits were generally weak and unfavourable. Direct selection on WW is expected to increase genetic potential for YW, FW, MW and ADG_WW, but reduce ADG_YW and show weak associations with AFC and ICP. Genetic trends were positive for WW, YW and ADG_FW, while maternal genetic trends for WW declined over time (p < 0.001). No significant genetic progress was observed for other traits. Average individual EBV accuracy improved when restricted to only dams or sires with their own or progeny records. Results suggest that early selection on direct WW is expected to effectively improve growth traits but may have unintended adverse effects on reproductive and maternal traits, emphasizing the need for multi-trait selection, potentially with genomic evaluation, larger datasets and balanced selection indices.</p>","PeriodicalId":54885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148801926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic Evaluation of Pure Line Laying Hens Based on Crossover Testing Data From Simulated Populations.","authors":"M Sánchez-Diaz, N Ibáñez-Escriche, D López-Carbonell, D Cavero, L Varona","doi":"10.1111/jbg.70069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jbg.70069","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Commercial laying hen breeding programs aim to maximize the performance of crossbred animals. However, selection is usually based on data from pure lines raised in controlled nucleus environments, which may not fully predict the yields under commercial conditions. This study assessed the impact of incorporating crossbred information into genetic evaluations of pure lines. Using stochastic simulations of a two-way crossbreeding scheme, performance in pure lines and crossbred animals was modelled as different traits with an assumed genetic correlation. Nine scenarios were simulated by varying heritability and the genetic correlation between populations. Six levels of crossbred information were tested, ranging from no crossbred data to full use of individual phenotypes and genotypes, as well as cost-effective options based on pooled phenotypes and pooled genotypes. Results showed that strategies using both individual phenotypic and genotypic information achieved the highest response, particularly when the genetic correlation between populations was low and heritability was high. At intermediate correlations, pooling approaches offered a useful balance between performance and cost, while at high correlations, pure line selection performed almost as well as the most informative strategies. These findings highlight the importance of estimating the genetic correlation between pure and crossbred populations and considering cost-effective ways to integrate crossbred information, such as pooled data, to optimize genetic gain in laying hen breeding programs.</p>","PeriodicalId":54885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148760682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic Determination of Maternal Behaviour in Pigs.","authors":"Nicole Maffezzini, Negar Khayatzadeh, Simon Turner, Rainer Roehe, Ricardo Pong-Wong, Richard B D'Eath","doi":"10.1111/jbg.70068","DOIUrl":"10.1111/jbg.70068","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In sows, maternal behaviour is a commercially important trait which affects sow and piglet welfare and the quality and safety of human-animal interactions, especially if free farrowing of sows without crates is in place. The aim of this study was to evaluate maternal behaviour and to estimate its quantitative genetic parameters in Swiss Landrace sows (SLR). The lactating sows, with an average lactation period of 29-30 days and different parities (one to eleven) at four nucleus farms of the Swiss pig breeding company Suisag underwent behaviour tests and observations during two 12-week periods. The level of aggressiveness of the sows towards humans was assessed with a standardised Piglet Handling Test and with a Farmers' Aggressiveness Score, using five- and three-point scoring systems, respectively. Additionally, the reaction to the playback of unknown squealing piglets was evaluated using a five-point scoring system, and vocalising before lying down and time taken to lay down were recorded. Depending on the trait, data were collected on 451-705 sows, most of which had phenotypes available for more than one trait. Number of samples per measure varied between one and six. Given the non-Gaussian distribution of the traits, variance components were estimated based on Bayesian generalised linear mixed models, including as random effects the sow genetic effects and the sow permanent environmental effects. The additive genetic relationships were either computed from the pedigree (1418 individuals across six generations), the genomic data (from 376 genotyped sows using SNP-Chip 60 K), or their combination using the H matrix. The credibility intervals of the estimates indicate that all traits were repeatable independently of how the additive genetic relationships were modelled, with estimated repeatabilities varying between 0.18 ± 0.09 (mean ± SD; 95% CI = [0.01, 0.35]) and 0.66 ± 0.04 ([0.58, 0.74]). Both the level of aggressiveness towards humans (pedigree based: Piglet Handling Test: h² = 0.44 ± 0.12, [0.22, 0.69]; Farmers' Aggressiveness Score: h² = 0.24 ± 0.10, [0.04, 0.45]), and vocalising before lying down were found to be heritable (H matrix based: h² = 0.36 ± 0.15, [0.07, 0.63]). We found an unfavourable genetic correlation between the Farmers' Aggressiveness Score and piglet survival traits. Our results suggest that human-directed aggression is heritable, indicating that improvement of stockpersons' safety and sow welfare through genetic selection is feasible, although piglet survival should be included in a balanced breeding index to ensure progress in both traits.</p>","PeriodicalId":54885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148727138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysing Resilience Indicator Traits in Austrian Fleckvieh, Brown Swiss and Holstein-Friesian Cattle","authors":"M. Agyiri,&nbsp;R. Onzima,&nbsp;A. Costa,&nbsp;B. Fuerst-Waltl,&nbsp;F. Steininger,&nbsp;C. Egger-Danner,&nbsp;G. Mészáros,&nbsp;J. Sölkner","doi":"10.1111/jbg.70046","DOIUrl":"10.1111/jbg.70046","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;Recent studies suggest that variations in milk yield during lactation can serve as a metric for assessing individual resilience, with minimum fluctuations reflecting greater resilience in cows. With automatic milking systems, multiple records can be obtained from many cows on a daily basis. Given that animals are continually exposed to a range of stressors throughout their productive life, identifying resilience traits is crucial for preserving both their productive and reproductive capacities. We studied two resilience indicators: natural log-transformed variance (&lt;i&gt;ln&lt;/i&gt;(&lt;i&gt;σ&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;)) and lag-1 autocorrelation (&lt;i&gt;r&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;lag&lt;/sub&gt;) of the daily deviations in milk yield recorded from the automatic milking system, with average daily milk yield incorporated as an additional trait to assess the correlations between the resilience indicators and milk yield. The resilience indicators were derived from three fitted lactation curves: the Wilmink curve, the penalised quadratic spline and the penalised cubic spline. The data consisted of 18,549,535 daily milk records of 37,118 Fleckvieh, 7322 Holstein-Friesian and 2784 Brown Swiss cows in 1070 Austrian dairy herds. The data were collected for lactation periods of up to 350 days across multiple parities. Additionally, the resilience indicators were calculated based on days 11–50 of lactation, as the transition period and early lactation are crucial moments for the cows. Genetic analyses were conducted using univariate and bivariate analyses to estimate heritability (&lt;i&gt;h&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;i&gt;2&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;) and genetic correlations between the traits. Estimated breeding values of the indicator traits obtained from the genetic analysis were correlated with routinely estimated breeding values and official indexes of the cows, including dairy, health, functional and conformation traits. The resilience indicators were scaled to negatives (−&lt;i&gt;ln&lt;/i&gt;(&lt;i&gt;σ&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;) and −&lt;i&gt;r&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;lag&lt;/sub&gt;) to compute these correlations, so that positive values indicate better resilience. The &lt;i&gt;h&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;i&gt;2&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; ranged between 0.09 and 0.20 for &lt;i&gt;ln&lt;/i&gt;(&lt;i&gt;σ&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;) and between 0.04 and 0.06 for &lt;i&gt;r&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;lag&lt;/sub&gt;, with the highest estimates observed when the penalised cubic spline was used. Generally, the &lt;i&gt;h&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;i&gt;2&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; decreased when only the early lactation period was considered. Genetic correlations of the resilience indicators with existing traits were low to moderate, with stronger correlations observed with −&lt;i&gt;ln&lt;/i&gt;(&lt;i&gt;σ&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;) than in −&lt;i&gt;r&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;lag&lt;/sub&gt;, particularly when estimated with the dairy traits. The negative correlations with milk yield, ranging from −0.13 to −0.45 for −&lt;i&gt;ln&lt;/i&gt;(&lt;i&gt;σ&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;) and &lt;i&gt;−&lt;/i&gt;0.03 to &lt;i&gt;−&lt;/i&gt;0.23 for −&lt;i&gt;r&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;lag&lt;/sub&gt; suggest that selecting for the resilience traits may result in a reduction in milk yield. This study demonstrated that deviations derived from fluctuations in lactation curves are heritab","PeriodicalId":54885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics","volume":"143 5","pages":"613-624"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jbg.70046","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147373626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic Parameters and Sex-Specific Architecture of Observed and Latent Fertility Phenotypes in a Closed Breeding Nucleus of an Arctic Salmonid","authors":"Fotis Pappas,&nbsp;Martin Johnsson,&nbsp;Paul Vincent Debes,&nbsp;Christos Palaiokostas","doi":"10.1111/jbg.70051","DOIUrl":"10.1111/jbg.70051","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Successful reproduction is a key factor for efficient breeding schemes and sustainable animal farming. Aquaculture breeding programs rely heavily on small fractions of selected breeders to yield large production stocks, given the high fecundity typically observed in these species. In Sweden, Arctic charr (<i>Salvelinus alpinus</i>) is a salmonid with notable commercial potential, with a selective breeding program operating for 10 generations under a growth-rate focused breeding goal. Despite significant gains, the nucleus faces challenges with low and fluctuating fertility impeding expansion efforts. In this study, we estimate genetic parameters for charr milt quality phenotypes measured with specialised cytometry and Computer-Assisted Sperm Analysis (CASA). At the same time, we assess the sex-specific architecture governing egg count and sperm concentration along body size. Finally, we propose a novel analytical framework for the analysis of realised fertilisation success rates by considering a multiplicative system of latent maternal and paternal contributions. Low to moderate heritability estimates and genetic correlations were obtained from multi-trait modelling for traits reflecting sperm quality along with high estimates for fork length. Genetic correlations among sperm kinematic parameters appeared strong, while the same traits showed weak positive and weak negative correlations with sperm concentration and fork length, respectively. Furthermore, a negative genetic correlation between sperm concentration and both male body size and egg count suggests a complex interplay of a possible trade-off and sexual antagonism. Our latent fertility analytical approach returned low to moderate heritability estimates depending on the modelling configuration. Overall, our study demonstrated the complexity characterising the heritable portions of reproductive traits in Arctic charr and tested alternative tools that have the potential for integration into selective breeding programs.</p>","PeriodicalId":54885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics","volume":"143 5","pages":"667-678"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jbg.70051","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147789464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unravelling the Genetic Structure of Local and Mainstream Red-Pied Cattle Breeds Using Genomics and Extended Pedigree Analysis","authors":"Margaux Vandewalle,&nbsp;Renzo Bonifazi,&nbsp;Jérémie Vandenplas,&nbsp;Sipke-Joost Hiemstra,&nbsp;Gerben de Jong,&nbsp;Dirk Hinrichs,&nbsp;Nicolas Gengler,&nbsp;Hélène Wilmot","doi":"10.1111/jbg.70054","DOIUrl":"10.1111/jbg.70054","url":null,"abstract":"<p>During the last decade, there has been a growing interest for local and endangered breeds as they are often seen as more resilient and healthier than mainstream breeds. They can also provide high added-value products like meat or dairy products. To better preserve these breeds, it is of main importance to characterize their genetic diversity and have an insight of historical gene flow with more mainstream breeds. In this study, we focused on the genetic relationships of five red-pied cattle breeds: the east Belgian red and white (EBRW); the red-pied of the Ösling (RPO), from Luxembourg; the deep red (DR) and the Meuse-Rhine-Yssel (MRY), both from the Netherlands; and the German red and white dual purpose (RDN). The EBRW, RPO and DR breeds have an official European endangered status. We first investigated the pedigree completeness of available genotyped animals as well as their complex historical relationships through the analysis of common ancestors. We also compared pedigree and SNP-based inbreeding coefficients, defined as the sum of homozygosity-by-descent segments (HBD). We then dived into genomic relationships through a classical multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) of genotyped animals and their admixture. The pedigree analyses showed the complex gene flow between all breeds and that the RPO breed was the most connected to other breeds. Results also showed that the level of inbreeding was so far not an issue in all five breeds even if some animals, for example, in EBRW and MRY breeds, showed higher inbreeding levels than the average of their breeds. Finally, the MDS and admixture analysis also highlighted complex gene flow between the studied breeds and that they may be considered as a genetic continuum. This genomic proximity has the potential to improve genetic evaluations of local breeds by the inclusion of information from more mainstream breeds like MRY and RDN.</p>","PeriodicalId":54885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics","volume":"143 5","pages":"705-718"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jbg.70054","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148037683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic Relationships Between Residual Gain and Economically Important Traits in Nellore Cattle","authors":"Miller Teodoro,&nbsp;Gabriel Gubiani,&nbsp;Letícia Pereira,&nbsp;Amanda Santos Gubiani,&nbsp;Angélica Simone Cravo Pereira,&nbsp;Roberto Sainz,&nbsp;Cláudio Ulhôa Magnabosco,&nbsp;Fernando Baldi","doi":"10.1111/jbg.70050","DOIUrl":"10.1111/jbg.70050","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Sustainable beef production requires identifying animals with superior feed efficiency to reduce environmental impact and production costs. This study aimed to estimate heritability and genetic correlations between residual gain (RG) and growth, reproductive, carcass and feed efficiency traits in Nellore cattle. A total of 217,333 phenotypic records from animals born between 1980 and 2024, raised in diverse Brazilian regions, were analysed using Bayesian inference with a multi-trait mixed animal model. Heritability estimates for reproductive traits were low, while feed efficiency, growth and carcass traits showed moderate heritabilities. Residual gain exhibited a moderate positive genetic correlation with adjusted weight at 450 days (W450), supporting its potential as a selection criterion for growth efficiency. Genetic correlations between RG and carcass, reproductive and feed efficiency traits were generally low or near zero. However, a negative low genetic correlation and a moderate positive phenotypic correlation with early conception probability indicate complex effects on reproduction. Selection for RG may increase yearling weight and maintenance energy requirements, which can reduce early reproductive performance under restricted nutritional conditions, presenting trade-offs to consider in extensive systems. Conversely, RG may be particularly suitable for intensive systems such as feedlot or finishing operations, where nutritional management can mitigate these limitations. The negative genetic correlation between RG and residual feed intake further highlights RG's ability to identify animals that grow efficiently without increased feed intake. These results confirm that RG is a largely independent trait and shows sufficient genetic variability to respond to selection in Nellore cattle. Using it as a selection criterion can enhance feed efficiency without negatively impacting other economically important traits.</p>","PeriodicalId":54885,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics","volume":"143 5","pages":"658-666"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jbg.70050","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147640738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}