Different methods of assessing udder temperature through thermography and their relation with rectal temperature.

Infrared thermography of the lateral side portion of the udder was taken from 38 lactating cows in a 6-day experiment. Thermograms were analyzed using specific software with the use of eight different methods. The experiment was aimed at correlating the different methods with each other and with rectal temperature (RT), in order to suggest a method to assess udder side temperature, and also at creating regression equations to enable RT calculation through the use of thermographic data. All methods of analyzing thermograms were highly correlated; correlations between thermograms and RT were significant (P < 0.01) and above 0.840. The highest correlation was between RT and the maximum temperature obtained using a horizontal rectangle placed within the lateral (side) portion of the udder (maximum temperature in a horizontal rectangle (MHR), 0.897). With the exception of the average temperature of a horizontal rectangle, linear regression coefficients were significant (P < 0.05) and coefficients of determination were higher than 75.51%. We suggest the use of MHR to evaluate udder side temperature. The ease of accessing the side of the udder, the welfare advantages of non-invasive observations, and the high correlation with RT suggest the use of thermograms in the lateral portion of the udder to assess animals' temperature.

RNA sequencing differential gene expression analysis of isolated perfused bovine udders experimentally inoculated with Streptococcus agalactiae.

The aim of this study was to elucidate the differential gene expression in the RNA sequencing transcriptome of isolated perfused udders collected from 4 slaughtered Holstein × Zebu crossbred dairy cows experimentally inoculated with Streptococcus agalactiae. We studied 3 different statistical tools (edgeR, baySeq, and Cuffdiff 2). In summary, 2 quarters of each udder were experimentally inoculated with Strep. agalactiae and the other 2 were used as a control. Mammary tissue biopsies were collected at times 0 and 3 h after infection. The total RNA was extracted and sequenced on an Illumina HiSeq 2000 (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA). Transcripts were assembled from the reads aligned to the bovine UMD 3.1 reference genome, and the statistical analyses were performed using the previously mentioned tools (edgeR, baySeq, and Cuffdiff 2). Finally, the identified genes were submitted to pathway enrichment analysis. A total of 1,756, 1,161, and 3,389 genes with differential gene expression were identified when using edgeR, baySeq, and Cuffdiff 2, respectively. A total of 122 genes were identified by the overlapping of the 3 methods; however, only the platelet activation presented a significantly enriched pathway. From the results, we suggest the FCER1G, GNAI2, ORAI1, and VASP genes shared among the 3 methods in this pathway for posterior biological validation.

Accuracy of genomic predictions in Gyr (Bos indicus) dairy cattle.

Genomic selection may accelerate genetic progress in breeding programs of indicine breeds when compared with traditional selection methods. We present results of genomic predictions in Gyr (Bos indicus) dairy cattle of Brazil for milk yield (MY), fat yield (FY), protein yield (PY), and age at first calving using information from bulls and cows. Four different single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chips were studied. Additionally, the effect of the use of imputed data on genomic prediction accuracy was studied. A total of 474 bulls and 1,688 cows were genotyped with the Illumina BovineHD (HD; San Diego, CA) and BovineSNP50 (50K) chip, respectively. Genotypes of cows were imputed to HD using FImpute v2.2. After quality check of data, 496,606 markers remained. The HD markers present on the GeneSeek SGGP-20Ki (15,727; Lincoln, NE), 50K (22,152), and GeneSeek GGP-75Ki (65,018) were subset and used to assess the effect of lower SNP density on accuracy of prediction. Deregressed breeding values were used as pseudophenotypes for model training. Data were split into reference and validation to mimic a forward prediction scheme. The reference population consisted of animals whose birth year was ≤2004 and consisted of either only bulls (TR1) or a combination of bulls and dams (TR2), whereas the validation set consisted of younger bulls (born after 2004). Genomic BLUP was used to estimate genomic breeding values (GEBV) and reliability of GEBV (R2PEV) was based on the prediction error variance approach. Reliability of GEBV ranged from ∼0.46 (FY and PY) to 0.56 (MY) with TR1 and from 0.51 (PY) to 0.65 (MY) with TR2. When averaged across all traits, R2PEV were substantially higher (R2PEV of TR1 = 0.50 and TR2 = 0.57) compared with reliabilities of parent averages (0.35) computed from pedigree data and based on diagonals of the coefficient matrix (prediction error variance approach). Reliability was similar for all the 4 marker panels using either TR1 or TR2, except that imputed HD cow data set led to an inflation of reliability. Reliability of GEBV could be increased by enlarging the limited bull reference population with cow information. A reduced panel of ∼15K markers resulted in reliabilities similar to using HD markers. Reliability of GEBV could be increased by enlarging the limited bull reference population with cow information.

Strategies for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping to enhance genotype imputation in Gyr (Bos indicus) dairy cattle: Comparison of commercially available SNP chips.

Genotype imputation is widely used as a cost-effective strategy in genomic evaluation of cattle. Key determinants of imputation accuracies, such as linkage disequilibrium patterns, marker densities, and ascertainment bias, differ between Bos indicus and Bos taurus breeds. Consequently, there is a need to investigate effectiveness of genotype imputation in indicine breeds. Thus, the objective of the study was to investigate strategies and factors affecting the accuracy of genotype imputation in Gyr (Bos indicus) dairy cattle. Four imputation scenarios were studied using 471 sires and 1,644 dams genotyped on Illumina BovineHD (HD-777K; San Diego, CA) and BovineSNP50 (50K) chips, respectively. Scenarios were based on which reference high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panel (HDP) should be adopted [HD-777K, 50K, and GeneSeek GGP-75Ki (Lincoln, NE)]. Depending on the scenario, validation animals had their genotypes masked for one of the lower-density panels: Illumina (3K, 7K, and 50K) and GeneSeek (SGGP-20Ki and GGP-75Ki). We randomly selected 171 sires as reference and 300 as validation for all the scenarios. Additionally, all sires were used as reference and the 1,644 dams were imputed for validation. Genotypes of 98 individuals with 4 and more offspring were completely masked and imputed. Imputation algorithms FImpute and Beagle v3.3 and v4 were used. Imputation accuracies were measured using the correlation and allelic correct rate. FImpute resulted in highest accuracies, whereas Beagle 3.3 gave the least-accurate imputations. Accuracies evaluated as correlation (allelic correct rate) ranged from 0.910 (0.942) to 0.961 (0.974) using 50K as HDP and with 3K (7K) as low-density panels. With GGP-75Ki as HDP, accuracies were moderate for 3K, 7K, and 50K, but high for SGGP-20Ki. The use of HD-777K as HDP resulted in accuracies of 0.888 (3K), 0.941 (7K), 0.980 (SGGP-20Ki), 0.982 (50K), and 0.993 (GGP-75Ki). Ungenotyped individuals were imputed with an average accuracy of 0.970. The average top 5 kinship coefficients between reference and imputed individuals was a strong predictor of imputation accuracy. FImpute was faster and used less memory than Beagle v4. Beagle v4 outperformed Beagle v3.3 in accuracy and speed of computation. A genotyping strategy that uses the HD-777K SNP chip as a reference panel and SGGP-20Ki as the lower-density SNP panel should be adopted as accuracy was high and similar to that of the 50K. However, the effect of using imputed HD-777K genotypes from the SGGP-20Ki on genomic evaluation is yet to be studied.

Quantitative trait loci affecting milk production traits on bovine chromosome 6 in zebuine Gyr breed.

Fourteen Brazilian dairy Gyr sire families with 657 daughters were analyzed for quantitative trait loci (QTL) on chromosome 6 by using a daughter design for 5 economic traits: milk, fat, and protein production, fat and protein percentage. The cows and sires were genotyped for 27 microsatellites with average spacing between markers of 4.9 cM. In the analyses across 14 families, for the largest significant families, and within family, a QTL was located for milk yield and fat yield close to marker BMS2508 at the 5% chromosome-wide significance level across families and 1% chromosome-wide within families. For fat percentage, a QTL near DIK4482 was identified at the 5% chromosome-wide significance level when all families were analyzed together and at the 1% chromosome-wide significance level within the largest significant families. The different analyses yielded results that were generally consistent for milk yield, fat yield, and fat percentage. The order of the markers in the derived map was consistent with that in the consensus map. Some QTL and candidate genes in dairy cattle for milk production traits are probably preserved in Bos taurus and Bos indicus.