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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #321367
Title: Invited review: genomic selection in multi-breed dairy cattle populations

Author
item Cole, John
item DA SILVA, MARCOS - Embrapa

Submitted to: Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/4/2016
Publication Date: 4/1/2016
Citation: Cole, J.B., Da Silva, M. 2016. Invited review: Genomic selection in multi-breed dairy cattle populations. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia. 45(4):195-202.

Interpretive Summary: Genomic selection has been a very valuable tool for improving rates of genetic gain in cattle breeds of European origin. However, there are millions of dairy cattle in warm climates, such as the Girolando breed in Brazil, that could also benefit from genomic selection. Many of those breeds do not have the data necessary to compute accurate genomic breeding values, but it may be possible to combine information from multiple breeds and use the resulting joint data set to make good predictions. Research has shown that there can be substantial benefits for breeds with small reference populations when combined with large breeds.

Technical Abstract: Genomic selection has been a valuable tool for increasing the rate of genetic improvement in purebred dairy cattle populations. However, there also are many large populations of crossbred dairy cattle in the world, and multi-breed genomic evaluations may be a valuable tool for improving rates of genetic gain in those populations. Multi-breed models are an extension of single-breed genomic models in which a genomic relationship matrix is used to account for the breed origin of alleles in the population, as well as allele frequency differences between breeds. Most studies have found little benefit from multi-breed evaluations for pure breeds that have large reference populations. However, breeds with small reference populations may benefit from inclusion in a multi-breed evaluation without adversely affecting purebred performance. Most research has been conducted in taurine breeds, so additional research is needed to determine the value of multi-breed reference populations for mixed-breed cattle adapted to tropical climates.