Register      Login
Animal Production Science Animal Production Science Society
Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Bayesian analysis of direct and maternal effects for birthweight in Iranian buffaloes using Gibbs sampling

Navid Ghavi Hossein-Zadeh
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, PO Box 41635-1314, Iran. Email: nhosseinzadeh@guilan.ac.ir; navid.hosseinzadeh@gmail.com

Animal Production Science 56(5) 859-865 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN14564
Submitted: 2 August 2013  Accepted: 21 November 2014   Published: 19 February 2015

Abstract

Calving records from April 1994 to March 2010 comprising 8570 calving events from the first three parities of 734 buffalo herds of Iran were analysed using a linear animal model to estimate variance components and heritability for birthweight. A linear animal model including direct and maternal genetic effects with covariance between them and maternal permanent environmental effect was implemented by Gibbs sampling methodology. A single Gibbs sampling chain with 500 000 rounds was generated by the Threshold Model program. Posterior means of direct and maternal heritabilities and repeatability for birthweight were 0.21, 0.15 and 0.23, respectively. Estimate of correlation between direct and maternal genetic effects for birthweight was –0.71. Also, the ratio of permanent environmental variance to phenotypic variance was 0.02. Along with the direct genetic effects, the contribution of maternal effects to the phenotypic variance of birthweight may provide producers with information to optimally use the reported estimates when making selection decisions. The results of this study indicated that exploitable genetic variation observed for birthweight could be considered in designing future selection programs for Iranian buffaloes and improvement in birthweight could be attained by genetic selection.

Additional keywords: buffalo, direct effect, genetic parameters, maternal effect.


References

Akhtar P, Kalsoom U, Ali S, Yaqoob M, Javed K, Babar ME, Mustafa MI, Sultan JI (2012) Genetics and phenotypic parameters for growth traits of Nili-Ravi buffalo heifers in Pakistan. Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences 22, 347–352.

Amin AA (2003) Test-day model of daily milk prediction across stages of lactation in Egyptian buffaloes. Archiv fur Tierzucht 46, 35–45.

Aziz MA, Shalaby NA, Al-Hur FS (2010) Comparison between genetic parameters for birth weight of Egyptian buffaloes estimated by random regression and multi-trait models. Proceedings of the 9th World Congress on Animal Production, Leipzig, Germany. CD-ROM Communication No. 0175.

Bakir G, Kaygisiz A, Ulker H (2004) Estimates of genetic and phenotypic parameters weight in Holstein Friesian cattle. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences 7, 1221–1224.
Estimates of genetic and phenotypic parameters weight in Holstein Friesian cattle.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Bhat PN (1992) Genetics of river buffaloes. In ‘Buffalo production. World animal science, C6’. (Eds NM Tulloh, JHG Holmes) pp. 13–58. (Elsevier: Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Borghese A (2005) ‘Buffalo production and research.’ (FAO Regional Office for Europe Inter-Regional Cooperative Research Network on Buffalo (ESCORENA: Rome, Italy) Available at ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/ah847e/ah847e.pdf [Verified 24 June 2013]

Bullock KD, Bertrand JK, Benyshek LL (1993) Genetic and environmental parameters for mature weight and other growth measures in Polled Hereford cattle. Journal of Animal Science 71, 1737–1741.

Cassiano LA, Mariante AS, Mcnanus C, Marques JRF, Costa NA (2004) Genetic parameters of production and reproduction traits of buffaloes in the Brazilian Amazon. Pesquisa Agropecuria Brazileria. Empresa Brasileria de Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileria Brazil 39, 451–457.

El-Awady HG, Shalaby NM, Mourad KA (2005) Variance components due to direct and maternal effects and estimation of breeding values for some growth of Egyptian buffaloes. Journal of Agricultural Science Mansoura University of Egypt 30, 7425–7436.

Euclides FK, Nobre P, Rosa RC, Don A (1991) Age of cow and its interaction with herd, sire and sex of calf. Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Zootecnia 20, 40–46.

Ghavi Hossein-Zadeh N (2014) Linear and threshold analysis of direct and maternal genetic effects for secondary sex ratio in Iranian buffaloes. Journal of Applied Genetics 55, 365–372.
Linear and threshold analysis of direct and maternal genetic effects for secondary sex ratio in Iranian buffaloes.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 24648274PubMed |

Ghavi Hossein-Zadeh N, Madad M, Shadparvar AA, Kianzad D (2012) An observational analysis of secondary sex ratio, stillbirth and birth weight in Iranian buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis). Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology 14, 1477–1484.

Hyndman RJ (1996) Computing and graphing highest density regions. The American Statistician 50, 120–126.

Khan MS, Hassan F, Rehman MS, Hyder AU, Bajwa IR (2007) Genetic control of milk yield from lactations of different duration in Nili-Ravi buffaloes. Archiv fur Tierzucht 50, 227–239.

Kianzad D (2000) A case study on buffalo recording and breeding in Iran. ICAR Technical Series 4, 37–44.

Kumar S, Yadav MC, Prasad RB (2008) Restricted selection index for genetic improvement in Indian buffaloes. Buffalo Bulletin 27, 233–235.

Kumaravel N, Sivakumar T, Nisha PR, Gopi H (2004) Studies on some factors affecting birth weight in buffalo calves. Cheiron 33, 51–53.

Legarra A, Varona L, Lopez de Maturana E (2011) ‘TM user’s guide.’ Available at http://snp.toulouse.inra.fr/~alegarra/manualtm.pdf [Verified 14 December 2014]

Magnabosco CU, Lôbo RB, Famula TR (2000) Bayesian influence for genetic parameter estimation on growth traits for Nellore cattle in brazil, using the gibbs sample. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 117, 169–188.
Bayesian influence for genetic parameter estimation on growth traits for Nellore cattle in brazil, using the gibbs sample.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Mahdy AE, El-Shafie OM, Ayyat MS (1999) Genetic study and sire values for some economic traits in Egyptian buffaloes. Alexandra Journal of Agricultural Research 44, 15–35.

Maniatis N, Pollott GE (2003) The impact of data structure on genetic (co)variance components of early growth in sheep, estimated using an animal model with maternal effects. Journal of Animal Science 81, 101–108.

Maria GA, Boldman KG, van Vleck LD (1993) Estimates of variances due to direct and maternal effects for growth traits of Romanov sheep. Journal of Animal Science 71, 845–849.

Mendes Malhado CH, Amorim Ramos A, Souza Carneiro PL, de Souza JC, Lamberson WR (2007) Genetic and phenotypic trends for growth traits of buffaloes in Brazil. Italian Journal of Animal Science 6, 325–327.

Misztal I (2008) Reliable computing in estimation of variance components. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 125, 363–370.
Reliable computing in estimation of variance components.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:STN:280:DC%2BD1M%2FmtlOrug%3D%3D&md5=31facc973f05f6ee32a5733442c2561eCAS | 19134071PubMed |

Mourad KA, Khattab AS (2009) A comparison between different selection indices for some productive traits on Egyptian buffaloes. Archiv fur Tierzucht 52, 476–484.

Murdia CK, Chaudhary AL (1984) Genetic studies on body weights in light breeds of buffaloes. The Indian Journal of Animal Sciences 54, 6–10.

Naserian AA, Saremi B (2007) Water buffalo industry in Iran. Italian Journal of Animal Science 6, 1404–1405.

Salces AJ, Bajenting GP, Salces CB (2013) Estimation of genetic parameters for growth traits of three genotypes of water buffalo bulls raised on a ranching operation. Buffalo Bulletin 32, 760–763.

SAS Institute (2002) ‘User’s guide: statistics.’ Version 9.1 edition. (SAS Institute Inc.: Cary, NC)

Schaeffer LR (1984) Sire and cow evaluation under multiple trait models. Journal of Dairy Science 67, 1567–1580.
Sire and cow evaluation under multiple trait models.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Seno LO, Cardoso VL, Tonhati H (2006) Responses to selection for milk traits in dairy buffaloes. Genetics and Molecular Research 5, 790–796.

Shahin KA, Abdallah OY, Fooda TA, Mourad KA (2010) Selection indexes for genetic improvement of yearling weight in Egyptian buffaloes. Archiv fur Tierzucht 53, 436–446.

Smith BJ (2005) Bayesian Output Analysis Program (BOA), Version 1.1.5. The University of Iowa: Iowa City, IA. Available at http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/boa [Verified 26 March 2013]

Snyman MA, Erasmus GJ, van Wyk JB, Olivier JJ (1995) Direct and maternal (co) variance components and heritability estimates for body weight at different ages and fleece traits in Afrino sheep. Livestock Production Science 44, 229–235.
Direct and maternal (co) variance components and heritability estimates for body weight at different ages and fleece traits in Afrino sheep.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Tavakolian J (2000) ‘An introduction to genetic resources of native farm animals.’ (Animal Science Research Institute: Karaj, Iran)

Thiruvenkadan AK, Panneerselvam S, Rajendran R (2009) Non-genetic and genetic factors influencing growth performance in Murrah Buffalos. South African Journal of Animal Science 39, 102–106.

Yadav BS, Yadav MC, Singh A, Khan FH (2001) Murrah buffaloes-1. Birth weight Buffalo Bulletin 20, 29–31.