Genetic relationships among resilience, fertility and milk production traits in crossbred dairy cows performing in sub-Saharan Africa
Change in climate over the past years and its impact on the environment have necessitated the inclusion of resilience traits in the breeding objectives of dairy cattle. However, the relationship between resilience and other traits of economic importance in dairy production is currently not well know...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
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Wiley
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173570 |
| _version_ | 1855524987286323200 |
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| author | Oloo, Richard Dooso Mrode, Raphael A. Ekine-Dzivenu, Chinyere C. Ojango, Julie M.K. Bennewitz, J. Gebreyohanes, Gebregziabher Okeyo Mwai, Ally Chagunda, M.G.G. |
| author_browse | Bennewitz, J. Chagunda, M.G.G. Ekine-Dzivenu, Chinyere C. Gebreyohanes, Gebregziabher Mrode, Raphael A. Ojango, Julie M.K. Okeyo Mwai, Ally Oloo, Richard Dooso |
| author_facet | Oloo, Richard Dooso Mrode, Raphael A. Ekine-Dzivenu, Chinyere C. Ojango, Julie M.K. Bennewitz, J. Gebreyohanes, Gebregziabher Okeyo Mwai, Ally Chagunda, M.G.G. |
| author_sort | Oloo, Richard Dooso |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Change in climate over the past years and its impact on the environment have necessitated the inclusion of resilience traits in the breeding objectives of dairy cattle. However, the relationship between resilience and other traits of economic importance in dairy production is currently not well known. This study examined the genetic parameters and relationships among resilience, fertility and milk production traits in dairy cattle in Kenya. Indicators of general resilience and heat tolerance were defined from the first parity test-day milk yield records. Indicators of general resilience included variance of actual deviations (<i>LnVar1</i>), variance of standardised deviations (<i>LnVar2</i>), lag-1 autocorrelation (r<sub>auto</sub>) and skewness (<i>Skew</i>) of standardised deviations in milk yield. Heat tolerance indicators at temperature-humidity index 80 included the slope of the reaction norm (<i>Slope</i>), absolute slope of the reaction norm (<i>Absolute</i>), and the intercept of the reaction norm model (<i>Intercept</i>). Cows with > 50% taurine genes had lower age at first calving (AFC), longer calving intervals (CI) and higher test-day milk yield (MY). The heritability estimates of AFC, CI and MY were 0.17 ± 0.033, 0.06 ± 0.012 and 0.35 ± 0.021, respectively. The repeatability estimates of CI and MY were 0.06 ± 0.012 and 0.47 ± 0.009, respectively. The low heritability and non-significant permanent environmental variance of CI showed that CI is heavily influenced by external factors, such as management practices. AFC was negatively genetically correlated with both CI (−0.88 ± 0.077) and MY (−0.53 ± 0.059) showing that animals that attain sexual maturity earlier exhibit longer CI and higher milk production. A positive genetic correlation (0.62 ± 0.077) between CI and MY shows that high-yielding cows face challenges in maintaining shorter calving intervals. Heritability estimates of nearly all resilience indicators were significant and ranged from 0.05 to 0.34. Heat tolerance indicators showed low to non-significant genetic correlations with general resilience indicators, suggesting that different genetic factors are involved in responses to different types of disturbances. There was a generally positive genetic correlation between resilience and fertility, implying that resilient animals might have better fertility. All indicators, except <i>LnVar1</i> and <i>LnVar2</i>, revealed an antagonistic genetic relationship between resilience and milk production. The findings present an opportunity for including resilience in the development and application of selection indices in dairy cattle, especially for the tropics. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace173570 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| publisherStr | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1735702025-10-09T12:11:37Z Genetic relationships among resilience, fertility and milk production traits in crossbred dairy cows performing in sub-Saharan Africa Oloo, Richard Dooso Mrode, Raphael A. Ekine-Dzivenu, Chinyere C. Ojango, Julie M.K. Bennewitz, J. Gebreyohanes, Gebregziabher Okeyo Mwai, Ally Chagunda, M.G.G. climate change dairying genetics Change in climate over the past years and its impact on the environment have necessitated the inclusion of resilience traits in the breeding objectives of dairy cattle. However, the relationship between resilience and other traits of economic importance in dairy production is currently not well known. This study examined the genetic parameters and relationships among resilience, fertility and milk production traits in dairy cattle in Kenya. Indicators of general resilience and heat tolerance were defined from the first parity test-day milk yield records. Indicators of general resilience included variance of actual deviations (<i>LnVar1</i>), variance of standardised deviations (<i>LnVar2</i>), lag-1 autocorrelation (r<sub>auto</sub>) and skewness (<i>Skew</i>) of standardised deviations in milk yield. Heat tolerance indicators at temperature-humidity index 80 included the slope of the reaction norm (<i>Slope</i>), absolute slope of the reaction norm (<i>Absolute</i>), and the intercept of the reaction norm model (<i>Intercept</i>). Cows with > 50% taurine genes had lower age at first calving (AFC), longer calving intervals (CI) and higher test-day milk yield (MY). The heritability estimates of AFC, CI and MY were 0.17 ± 0.033, 0.06 ± 0.012 and 0.35 ± 0.021, respectively. The repeatability estimates of CI and MY were 0.06 ± 0.012 and 0.47 ± 0.009, respectively. The low heritability and non-significant permanent environmental variance of CI showed that CI is heavily influenced by external factors, such as management practices. AFC was negatively genetically correlated with both CI (−0.88 ± 0.077) and MY (−0.53 ± 0.059) showing that animals that attain sexual maturity earlier exhibit longer CI and higher milk production. A positive genetic correlation (0.62 ± 0.077) between CI and MY shows that high-yielding cows face challenges in maintaining shorter calving intervals. Heritability estimates of nearly all resilience indicators were significant and ranged from 0.05 to 0.34. Heat tolerance indicators showed low to non-significant genetic correlations with general resilience indicators, suggesting that different genetic factors are involved in responses to different types of disturbances. There was a generally positive genetic correlation between resilience and fertility, implying that resilient animals might have better fertility. All indicators, except <i>LnVar1</i> and <i>LnVar2</i>, revealed an antagonistic genetic relationship between resilience and milk production. The findings present an opportunity for including resilience in the development and application of selection indices in dairy cattle, especially for the tropics. 2025-11 2025-03-11T12:36:37Z 2025-03-11T12:36:37Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173570 en Open Access Wiley Oloo, R.D., Mrode, R., Ekine-Dzivenu, C.C., Ojango, J.M.K., Bennewitz, J., Gebreyohanes, G., Okeyo, A.M. and Chagunda, M.G.G. 2025. Genetic relationships among resilience, fertility and milk production traits in crossbred dairy cows performing in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 142(6): 630-642. |
| spellingShingle | climate change dairying genetics Oloo, Richard Dooso Mrode, Raphael A. Ekine-Dzivenu, Chinyere C. Ojango, Julie M.K. Bennewitz, J. Gebreyohanes, Gebregziabher Okeyo Mwai, Ally Chagunda, M.G.G. Genetic relationships among resilience, fertility and milk production traits in crossbred dairy cows performing in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title | Genetic relationships among resilience, fertility and milk production traits in crossbred dairy cows performing in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full | Genetic relationships among resilience, fertility and milk production traits in crossbred dairy cows performing in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_fullStr | Genetic relationships among resilience, fertility and milk production traits in crossbred dairy cows performing in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Genetic relationships among resilience, fertility and milk production traits in crossbred dairy cows performing in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_short | Genetic relationships among resilience, fertility and milk production traits in crossbred dairy cows performing in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_sort | genetic relationships among resilience fertility and milk production traits in crossbred dairy cows performing in sub saharan africa |
| topic | climate change dairying genetics |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173570 |
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