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The present study evaluated the heat stress response pattern of dual-purpose Guzerá cattle for test-day (TD) milk yield records of first lactation and estimated genetic parameters and trends related to heat stress. A total of 31,435 TD records from 4,486 first lactations of Guzerá cows, collected between 1986 and 2012, were analysed. Two random regression models considered days in milk (DIM) and/or temperature × humidity-dependent (THI) covariate. Impacts of -0.037, -0.019 and -0.006 kg/day/THI for initial and intermediate stages of lactation were observed when considering the mean maximum daily temperature and humidity to calculate THI. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.16 to 0.35 throughout lactation and THI values, suggesting the possibility to expect gains from selection for such trait. The variable trajectory of breeding values for dual-purpose Guzerá sires in response to changes in THI values confirms that the genotype × environment interaction due to heat stress can have some effect on TD milk yield. Despite the high dairy performance of Guzerá cattle under heat stress, estimated genetic trends showed a progressive reduction in heat tolerance. Therefore, new strategies should be adopted to prevent negative impacts of heat stress over milk production in Guzerá animals in future., (© 2019 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.)

The productivity of herds may be negatively affected by inbreeding depression, and it is important to know how intense is this effect on the livestock performance. We performed a comprehensive analysis involving five Zebu breeds reared in Brazil to estimate inbreeding depression in productive and reproductive traits. Inbreeding depression was estimated for 13 traits by including the individual inbreeding rate as a linear covariate in the standard genetic evaluation models. For all breeds and for almost all traits (no effect was observed on gestation length), the performance of the animals was compromised by an increase in inbreeding. The average inbreeding depression was -0.222% and -0.859% per 1% of inbreeding for linear regression coefficients scaled on the percentage of mean (β m ) and standard deviation (β σ ), respectively. The means for β m (and β σ ) were -0.269% (-1.202%) for weight/growth traits and -0.174% (-0.546%) for reproductive traits. Hence, inbreeding depression is more pronounced in weight/growth traits than in reproductive traits. These findings highlight the need for the management of inbreeding in the respective breeding programmes of the breeds studied here., (© 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.)

The objective of this study was to identify the genetic variation in the weaning weight (WW) of beef cattle as a function of heat stress. The WWs were recorded at approximately 205 days of age in three Brazilian beef cattle populations: Nelore (93,616), Brangus (18,906) and Tropical Composite (62,679). In view of the cumulative nature of WW, the effect of heat stress was considered as the accumulation of temperature and humidity index units (ACTHI) from the animal's birth to weaning. A reaction norm model was used to estimate the (co)variance components of WW across the ACTHI scale. The accumulation of THI units from birth to weaning negatively affected the WW. The definition of accumulated THI units as an environmental descriptor permitted to identify important genetic variation in the WW as a function of heat stress. As evidence of genotype by environment interaction, substantial heterogeneity was observed in the (co)variance components for WW across the environmental gradient. In this respect, the best animals in less stressful environments are not necessarily the best animals in more stressful environments. Furthermore, the response to selection for WW is expected to be lower in more stressful environments., (© 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.)

The objectives of the present study were to compare alternative models for the genetic evaluation and assess the importance of genotype by environment interaction (G×E) in the estimation of genetic parameters and genetic evaluation of birth weight (BW), weight at 60 days of age (W60) and weight at 180 days of age (W180) of Santa Ines sheep. Data comprise 7622 BW, 4673 W60 and 2830 W180 records from animals born in 44 Brazilian herds. Four models were used for the analyses: animal model (AM) with homogeneous residual variance (1), or heterogeneous residual variance (2), hierarchical reaction norms model (HRNM) with homogeneous (1) or heterogeneous residual variance (2). The models that best fit the BW, W60 and W180 data were AM2, HRNM1 and HRNM2 respectively. Thus, models for genetic evaluation that consider heterogeneity of variances are recommended to evaluate growth traits of sheep. The correlation between intercept and slope of the HRNM was higher than 0.70 for all traits studied, indicating that animals with higher average breeding values responded better to improvement in environmental conditions, a fact characterizing the scale effect of G×E. Therefore, G×E is an important factor to be considered in the estimation of genetic parameters and genetic evaluation of growth traits of sheep., (© 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.)