Kamalanathan, Stephanie; Houlahan, Kerry; Miglior, Filippo; Chud, Tatiane C S; Seymour, Dave J; Hailemariam, Dagnachew; Plastow, Graham; de Oliveira, Hinayah R; Baes, Christine F; Schenkel, Flavio S (2023). Genetic Analysis of Methane Emission Traits in Holstein Dairy Cattle. Animals, 13(8) MDPI 10.3390/ani13081308
|
Text
animals-13-01308.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY). Download (746kB) | Preview |
Genetic selection can be a feasible method to help mitigate enteric methane emissions from dairy cattle, as methane emission-related traits are heritable and genetic gains are persistent and cumulative over time. The objective of this study was to estimate heritability of methane emission phenotypes and the genetic and phenotypic correlations between them in Holstein cattle. We used 1765 individual records of methane emission obtained from 330 Holstein cattle from two Canadian herds. Methane emissions were measured using the GreenFeed system, and three methane traits were analyzed: the amount of daily methane produced (g/d), methane yield (g methane/kg dry matter intake), and methane intensity (g methane/kg milk). Genetic parameters were estimated using univariate and bivariate repeatability animal models. Heritability estimates (±SE) of 0.16 (±0.10), 0.27 (±0.12), and 0.21 (±0.14) were obtained for daily methane production, methane yield, and methane intensity, respectively. A high genetic correlation (rg = 0.94 ± 0.23) between daily methane production and methane intensity indicates that selecting for daily methane production would result in lower methane per unit of milk produced. This study provides preliminary estimates of genetic parameters for methane emission traits, suggesting that there is potential to mitigate methane emission in Holstein cattle through genetic selection.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Research and Veterinary Public Health (DCR-VPH) > Institute of Genetics 05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Research and Veterinary Public Health (DCR-VPH) |
UniBE Contributor: |
Baes, Christine Francoise |
Subjects: |
500 Science > 590 Animals (Zoology) 600 Technology > 630 Agriculture |
ISSN: |
2076-2615 |
Publisher: |
MDPI |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Pubmed Import |
Date Deposited: |
01 May 2023 10:55 |
Last Modified: |
02 May 2023 03:23 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.3390/ani13081308 |
PubMed ID: |
37106871 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
genetic parameters methane intensity methane production methane yield |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/182103 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/182103 |
Actions (login required)
 |
Edit item |