Possibilities to breed for internal parasite resistance in Swedish beef breeds
The aim of this review is to investigate the possibilities to breed for parasite resistance in the Swedish purebred beef population, with starting point in the organic production. The present population structure, breeding objectives and genetic evaluation will be discussed as well as four common in...
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| Formato: | L3 |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés sueco |
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SLU/Dept. of Animal Breeding and Genetics (until 231231)
2008
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| Sumario: | The aim of this review is to investigate the possibilities to breed for parasite resistance in the Swedish purebred beef population, with starting point in the organic production. The present population structure, breeding objectives and genetic evaluation will be discussed as well as four common internal parasites found among cattle in Sweden, registration of resistance by using faecal worm egg counts (FEC), the genetic background of FEC, and last the possibilities of using quantitative trait loci (QTL) and marker-assisted selection (MAS).
Due to strict regulations in organic production concerning the use of anthelminthics it is necessary to find alternative methods to control parasites, and breeding for increased parasite resistance may be one way to go. There are breeding programmes in operation today among some sheep breeds in Australia and New Zealand where FEC is used as a selection criterion. Studies on Aberdeen Angus indicate that breeding programmes for resistance could probably be implemented successfully among cattle from temperate regions as heritability estimates for FEC range from low to moderate. But there are still a number of issues that needs to be addressed. One major issue is the lack of available information. The Swedish dairy association runs the Swedish beef recording scheme, Kött Avel Produktion (KAP), where information is collected about the Swedish beef populations. At present FEC is not registered in KAP. |
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