Selection criteria for feed efficiency-related traits and their association with growth, reproductive and carcass traits in Nelore cattle

Abstract

Context Livestock feed costs have a higher impact on the profitability of beef production systems and are directly related to feed efficiency. However, these traits are hard and have high costs to measure, reducing the availability of phenotypic records and reliability of genetic evaluations. Thus, the use of genomic information can increase the robustness of genetic studies that address them. Aims The aim of the present study was to estimate genetic parameters for feed efficiency, growth, reproductive and carcass traits in Nelore cattle and the correlated response among them, using genomic information. Methods Residual feed intake (RFI), dry-matter intake, feed conversion ratio, feed efficiency (FE), residual average daily gain (RG), residual feed intake and average daily gain (RIG), birthweight, weight at 120, 240, 365 and 450 days of age, scrotal circumference at 365 and 450 days of age, rib-eye area, backfat thickness and rump fat thickness were evaluated. The genetic parameters were estimated using the single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction approach. Key results The FE-related traits showed low to moderate heritability ranging from 0.07 to 0.23. Feed efficiency-related traits showed low genetic correlations with reproductive (–0.24 to 0.27), carcass (–0.17 to 0.27) and growth (–0.19 to 0.24) traits, except for growth with dry-matter intake (0.32–0.56) and weight at 365 days of age with FE (–0.40). Conclusions The selection to improve growth, reproductive and carcass traits would not change RFI, RG and RIG. The choice of the most adequate selection criterion depends on the production system, that is, RFI might be used for low-input beef cattle systems, and RIG would be used for more intensive and without-any-dietary-restrictions beef cattle systems. Implications The estimates of heritability and genetic correlations suggest that genetic selection for feed efficiency using RFI, RG and RIG in Nellore cattle leads to higher genetic gain than does that using FE and feed conversion ratio without affecting other profitability traits.

Understanding the role of rumen epithelial host-microbe interactions in cattle feed efficiency

“…Therefore, reducing the feed intake of beef cattle without the decrease in growth performance or enhancing the production rate with a similar amount of feed intake could increase the profitability of farmers. Furthermore, the amount of consumed feed affects the emission of enteric greenhouse gas and the production of manure which causes environmental problems ( Boaitey et al., 2017 ; Brunes et al., 2021 ). As such, improving cattle feed efficiency has been identified as one of the prioritized tasks for both research and industrial communities.…”

“…Researchers have observed varied growth performance and feed intake of animals within a population who are reared on the same farm and/or with similar genetic background, indicating that such differences can be directly associated with their varied feed efficiency, which is usually defined as the efficiency of the conversion from feed to animal growth or production ( Nkrumah et al., 2006 ; Bonilha et al., 2017 ; Elolimy et al., 2018 ). There are several measures of feed efficiency including feed conversion ratio (FCR), residual average daily gain (RG), and residual feed intake (RFI) ( Brunes et al., 2021 ). Recently, RFI has attracted more attention than other feed efficiency measurements because of its moderate heritability ( h 2 = 0.33 ± 0.01) ( Berry and Crowley, 2013 ), and independence of the animal body weight/size ( Kenny et al., 2018 ).…”

Novos critérios de seleção para avaliação de bovinos de corte

“…Já a correlação genética entre FP e IMS foi moderada (0,30), indicando que animais selecionados para maior FP apresentarão menor consumo alimentar. A ingestão alimentar está correlacionada geneticamente e fenotipicamente com peso corporal (BRUNES et al, 2021), assim, geralmente, animais menores tendem a comer menos. A relação entre eficiência alimentar e desempenho de vacas de corte Irlandesas foi relatado por Crowley et al (2011), os quais obtiveram baixas estimativas de correlações genéticas entre características de eficiência e dificuldade de parto.…”

Inclusão da informação genômica na predição dos valores genéticos aditivos para características de eficiência alimentar e reprodutivas em bovinos da raça Nelore

“…Ademias há bastante divergência quanto a associação da gordura corporal e os animais eficientes para GPR e CGR. A associação entre CGR e espessura de gordura foi de moderada magnitude e negativa (CEACERO et al, 2016;BUARQUE, 2018), mostrando que animais eficientes para CGR possuem menor gordura corporal, porém outros autores não corroboram com esses achados, em que demonstraram correlações de baixas magnitude e positivas entre gordura corporal e o CGR BRUNES et al, 2021). Os demais coeficientes de correlação encontrados entre as características de eficiência alimentar e reprodutivas foram baixas e próximos a zero.…”

“… eCeacero et al (2016) estimaram correlações genéticas negativas e de baixa magnitude entre GPR e a espessura de gordura subcutânea na costela (EGS) e a espessura de gordura subcutânea na garupa (EGP). No entanto, Buarque(2018) relatou uma associação baixa e negativa entre GPR e EGS e uma correlação positiva e baixa entre GPR e EGP, discordando do encontrado porBrunes et al (2021), que relatou uma baixa e positiva associação entre GPR e EGS e uma baixa e negativa associação entre GPR e EGP.…”