Genetic Parameters of Milk β-Hydroxybutyric Acid and Acetone and Their Genetic Association with Milk Production Traits of Holstein Cattle

Abstract

This study was conducted to estimate the genetic parameters of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) and acetone concentration in milk by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy along with test-day milk production traits including fat %, protein % and milk yield based on monthly samples of milk obtained as part of a routine milk recording program in Korea. Additionally, the feasibility of using such data in the official dairy cattle breeding system for selection of cows with low susceptibility of ketosis was evaluated. A total of 57,190 monthly test-day records for parities 1, 2, and 3 of 7,895 cows with pedigree information were collected from April 2012 to August 2014 from herds enrolled in the Korea Animal Improvement Association. Multi-trait random regression models were separately applied to estimate genetic parameters of test-day records for each parity. The model included fixed herd test-day effects, calving age and season effects, and random regressions for additive genetic and permanent environmental effects. Abundance of variation of acetone may provide a more sensitive indication of ketosis than many zero observations in concentration of milk BHBA. Heritabilities of milk BHBA levels ranged from 0.04 to 0.17 with a mean of 0.09 for the interval between 4 and 305 days in milk during three lactations. The average heritabilities for milk acetone concentration were 0.29, 0.29, and 0.22 for parities 1, 2, and 3, respectively. There was no clear genetic association of the concentration of two ketone bodies with three test-day milk production traits, even if some correlations among breeding values of the test-day records in this study were observed. These results suggest that genetic selection for low susceptibility of ketosis in early lactation is possible. Further, it is desirable for the breeding scheme of dairy cattle to include the records of milk acetone rather than the records of milk BHBA.

Genetic parameters for endocrine and traditional fertility traits, hyperketonemia and milk yield in dairy cattle

“…In a literature review, Pryce et al (2016) reported low heritability estimates for clinical ketosis ranging from 0.01 to 0.16. In previous studies, most of the estimates for milk and serum BHB traits are low or moderate but higher than estimates for clinical ketosis (van der Drift et al, 2012;Koeck et al, 2014;Koeck et al, 2016;Miglior et al, 2014;Lee et al, 2016). For example, in a study of Lee et al (2016) the heritability for milk BHB 30 days postpartum was 0.10 (the average heritability for the first parity was 0.08).…”

“…Koeck et al, 2016), BHB concentration measured at first or some specific test day (e.g. van der Drift et al, 2012;Koeck et al, 2014;Lee et al, 2016) and classification based on different BHB thresholds (e.g. Miglior et al, 2014) Oetzl, 2007).…”

Invited review: β-hydroxybutyrate concentration in blood and milk and its associations with cow performance

“…β-hydroxybutyrate and dairy cow performance routine milk recording is not feasible because it is too expensive and time consuming, whereas MIRS allows to collect data at population level cheaply and provide routine reports to farmers for monitoring their herd. Currently, the accuracy of the developed prediction equations for BHB concentration in milk is not high enough to quantify the exact content but it has proved to be useful for screening purposes to detect cows with elevated BHB concentrations in milk (Grelet et al, 2016;Lee et al, 2016;Santschi et al, 2016). Moreover, predicted milk acetone and BHB have been used to develop models for the prediction of blood BHB from test-day milk and performance traits (Chandler et al, 2018), and the use of MIRS milk spectra has been proposed to directly predict blood BHB concentration (Belay et al, 2017a and2017b).…”

“…Santschi et al (2016). On the other hand, Lee et al (2016) considered cows as affected by SCK with milk BHB concentration between 0.01 and 0.20 mmol/l, and affected by CK with milk BHB concentration ⩾ 0.20 mmol/l. However, even with elevated concentrations of milk BHB, a blood test and/or a veterinary visit is necessary to help on the diagnosis of HYK.…”

Predictive ability of host genetics and rumen microbiome for subclinical ketosis

“…The heritability estimate for BHB concentration was close to 0, in agreement with reports from several previous studies. Lee et al (2016), for instance, reported heritability values ranging between 0.04 and 0.17 for milk BHB in Korean Holstein cows, depending on parity and stage of lactation. Similarly, heritability values ranging between 0.07 and 0.29 were reported for milk BHB in several other studies for different breeds of cattle (van der Drift et al, 2012;Koeck et al, 2014;Penasa et al, 2015;Jamrozik et al, 2016).…”