Functional Variants Surrounding Endothelin 2 Are Associated With Subspecies Infection.

Bovine paratuberculosis, caused by subspecies (), continues to impact the dairy industry through increased morbidity, mortality, and lost production. Although genome-wide association analyses (GWAAs) have identified loci associated with susceptibility to , limited progress has been made in identifying mutations that cause disease susceptibility. A 235-kb region on chromosome 3 (BTA3), containing a 70-kb haplotype block surrounding endothelin 2 (), has previously been associated with the risk of infection.

Susceptibility loci revealed for bovine respiratory disease complex in pre-weaned holstein calves.

Background: Bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) is an infectious disease of cattle that is caused by a combination of viral and/or bacterial pathogens. Selection for cattle with reduced susceptibility to respiratory disease would provide a permanent tool for reducing the prevalence of BRDC. The objective of this study was to identify BRDC susceptibility loci in pre-weaned Holstein calves as a prerequisite to using genetic improvement as a tool for decreasing the prevalence of BRDC.

Results of the BRD CAP project: progress toward identifying genetic markers associated with BRD susceptibility.

The Bovine Respiratory Disease Coordinated Agricultural Project (BRD CAP) is a 5-year project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), with an overriding objective to use the tools of modern genomics to identify cattle that are less susceptible to BRD. To do this, two large genome wide association studies (GWAS) were conducted using a case:control design on preweaned Holstein dairy heifers and beef feedlot cattle. A health scoring system was used to identify BRD cases and controls.

Estimation of inbreeding and effective population size of full-blood Wagyu cattle registered with the American Wagyu Cattle Association.

The objective of this research was to examine the population structure of full-blood (100%) Wagyu cattle registered in the United States with the American Wagyu Association, with the aim of estimating and comparing the levels of inbreeding from both pedigree and genotypic data. A total of 4132 full-blood Wagyu cattle pedigrees were assessed and used to compute the inbreeding coefficients (FIT and FST ) and the effective population size (Ne ) from pedigree data for the period 1994 to 2011. In addition to pedigree analysis, 47 full-blood Wagyu cattle representing eight prominent sire lines in the American Wagyu cattle population were genotyped using the Illumina BovineSNP50 BeadChip.