Quantitative trait loci exploration and characterization of gestation length in Holstein cattle

Gestation length (GL) is a moderately heritable trait in cattle with economic and management implications. This study aimed to characterize the gestation length of an Argentinian Holstein cattle population, understand contributing factors, and explore the GL effect on production performance. Further...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Raschia, Maria Agustina, Maizon, Daniel Omar, Amadio, Ariel, Nani, Juan Pablo, Poli, Mario Andres
Format: Artículo
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/16181
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093691X23004454
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2023.11.012
_version_ 1855485711328739328
author Raschia, Maria Agustina
Maizon, Daniel Omar
Amadio, Ariel
Nani, Juan Pablo
Poli, Mario Andres
author_browse Amadio, Ariel
Maizon, Daniel Omar
Nani, Juan Pablo
Poli, Mario Andres
Raschia, Maria Agustina
author_facet Raschia, Maria Agustina
Maizon, Daniel Omar
Amadio, Ariel
Nani, Juan Pablo
Poli, Mario Andres
author_sort Raschia, Maria Agustina
collection INTA Digital
description Gestation length (GL) is a moderately heritable trait in cattle with economic and management implications. This study aimed to characterize the gestation length of an Argentinian Holstein cattle population, understand contributing factors, and explore the GL effect on production performance. Further objectives were to estimate direct and maternal heritabilities for this trait and to identify genomic regions affecting it. Data consisted of GL records from 45,738 births corresponding to 17,004 Holstein cows and heifers. The effects of age and calving season over GL were analyzed using a Student's t-test for homoscedastic samples. The effects of the GL category (GL shorter than 1.5 SD, within ±1.5 SD, and longer than 1.5 SD from the mean) on production performance were studied by analysis of variance. A single-step genome-wide association study was performed using the BLUPF90 suite of programs with genotypes from 654 Holstein animals on 40,339 SNP. The results showed that the younger the age at calving, the shorter the GL. Moreover, gestations ending in warmer seasons were, in general, statistically shorter than those ending in colder seasons for both heifers and cows. Regarding the effect of GL on production performance, cows with gestation periods within ±1.5 SD from the population mean exhibited the highest 305-day cumulative milk, fat, and protein productions. Direct and maternal heritabilities for GL were 0.42 and 0.03, respectively. We detected a SNP suggestively associated with direct gestation length at 57.7 Mb on Bos taurus autosome 18, a locus included in a region described in the literature as associated with the trait. The information obtained on the environmental and genetic factors affecting GL in Argentinian Holstein cows contributes to characterizing the population in pursuit of improving the performance of national dairy cattle breeding systems.
format Artículo
id INTA16181
institution Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina)
language Inglés
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher Elsevier
publisherStr Elsevier
record_format dspace
spelling INTA161812023-12-12T09:55:22Z Quantitative trait loci exploration and characterization of gestation length in Holstein cattle Raschia, Maria Agustina Maizon, Daniel Omar Amadio, Ariel Nani, Juan Pablo Poli, Mario Andres Gestation Period Genome-wide Association Studies Quantitative Trait Loci Heritability Dairy Cows Dairy Cattle Período de Gestación Estudios de Asociación del Genoma Completo Loci de Rasgos Cuantitativos Heredabilidad Vacas Lecheras Ganado de Leche Raza Holstein Gestation length (GL) is a moderately heritable trait in cattle with economic and management implications. This study aimed to characterize the gestation length of an Argentinian Holstein cattle population, understand contributing factors, and explore the GL effect on production performance. Further objectives were to estimate direct and maternal heritabilities for this trait and to identify genomic regions affecting it. Data consisted of GL records from 45,738 births corresponding to 17,004 Holstein cows and heifers. The effects of age and calving season over GL were analyzed using a Student's t-test for homoscedastic samples. The effects of the GL category (GL shorter than 1.5 SD, within ±1.5 SD, and longer than 1.5 SD from the mean) on production performance were studied by analysis of variance. A single-step genome-wide association study was performed using the BLUPF90 suite of programs with genotypes from 654 Holstein animals on 40,339 SNP. The results showed that the younger the age at calving, the shorter the GL. Moreover, gestations ending in warmer seasons were, in general, statistically shorter than those ending in colder seasons for both heifers and cows. Regarding the effect of GL on production performance, cows with gestation periods within ±1.5 SD from the population mean exhibited the highest 305-day cumulative milk, fat, and protein productions. Direct and maternal heritabilities for GL were 0.42 and 0.03, respectively. We detected a SNP suggestively associated with direct gestation length at 57.7 Mb on Bos taurus autosome 18, a locus included in a region described in the literature as associated with the trait. The information obtained on the environmental and genetic factors affecting GL in Argentinian Holstein cows contributes to characterizing the population in pursuit of improving the performance of national dairy cattle breeding systems. Instituto de Genética Fil: Raschia, Maria Agustina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Genética; Argentina Fil: Maizon, Daniel Omar. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Anguil; Argentina Fil: Amadio, Ariel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela; Argentina Fil: Amadio, Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Nani, Juan Pablo. ABS Global; Estados Unidos Fil: Poli, Mario Andres. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Genética; Argentina Fil: Poli, Mario Andres. Universidad del Salvador. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Veterinaria; Argentina 2023-12-12T09:42:44Z 2023-12-12T09:42:44Z 2024-02 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/16181 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093691X23004454 1879-3231 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2023.11.012 eng info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2019-PE-E6-I145-001, Mejora genética objetiva para aumentar la eficiencia de los sistemas de producción animal info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2019-PE-E6-I114-001, Caracterización de la diversidad genética de plantas, animales y microorganismos mediante herramientas de genómica aplicada info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2019-PD-E5-I107-001, Biotecnologías de la reproducción: mejora de la eficiencia reproductiva en especies de interés zootécnico info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2019-PE-E1-I018-001, Crecimiento del rodeo lechero (crianza, recría y manejo en el primer estadio de la lactancia) info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2023-PD-L01-I108, Mejora genética animal en la era de la genómica y la ganadería inteligente: adaptación y resiliencia info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2019-RIST-E6-I112-001, Red de Recursos Genéticos  info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2023-PD-L01-I087, Caracterización de la diversidad genética de plantas, animales y microorganismos mediante herramientas de genómica aplicada. info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Elsevier Theriogenology 215 : 43-49. (February 2024)
spellingShingle Gestation Period
Genome-wide Association Studies
Quantitative Trait Loci
Heritability
Dairy Cows
Dairy Cattle
Período de Gestación
Estudios de Asociación del Genoma Completo
Loci de Rasgos Cuantitativos
Heredabilidad
Vacas Lecheras
Ganado de Leche
Raza Holstein
Raschia, Maria Agustina
Maizon, Daniel Omar
Amadio, Ariel
Nani, Juan Pablo
Poli, Mario Andres
Quantitative trait loci exploration and characterization of gestation length in Holstein cattle
title Quantitative trait loci exploration and characterization of gestation length in Holstein cattle
title_full Quantitative trait loci exploration and characterization of gestation length in Holstein cattle
title_fullStr Quantitative trait loci exploration and characterization of gestation length in Holstein cattle
title_full_unstemmed Quantitative trait loci exploration and characterization of gestation length in Holstein cattle
title_short Quantitative trait loci exploration and characterization of gestation length in Holstein cattle
title_sort quantitative trait loci exploration and characterization of gestation length in holstein cattle
topic Gestation Period
Genome-wide Association Studies
Quantitative Trait Loci
Heritability
Dairy Cows
Dairy Cattle
Período de Gestación
Estudios de Asociación del Genoma Completo
Loci de Rasgos Cuantitativos
Heredabilidad
Vacas Lecheras
Ganado de Leche
Raza Holstein
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/16181
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093691X23004454
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2023.11.012
work_keys_str_mv AT raschiamariaagustina quantitativetraitlociexplorationandcharacterizationofgestationlengthinholsteincattle
AT maizondanielomar quantitativetraitlociexplorationandcharacterizationofgestationlengthinholsteincattle
AT amadioariel quantitativetraitlociexplorationandcharacterizationofgestationlengthinholsteincattle
AT nanijuanpablo quantitativetraitlociexplorationandcharacterizationofgestationlengthinholsteincattle
AT polimarioandres quantitativetraitlociexplorationandcharacterizationofgestationlengthinholsteincattle