Is there gene*c resistance of Nellore ca2le to both *cks and gastro-intes*nal parasites?

FabioLuizBuraneloToralDepartmentofAnimalScience/UFMG

AndreaWilson’sgroup

GeneAcsandGenomicsDivision/Roslin

13thMeeAngEdinburghAllianceforComplexTraitGeneAcs

RoyalSocietyofEdinburgh

Brazilian ca2le

•  210-220Mheads

•  ~80%beefcaQle•  168–176Mheads

•  ~70%Zebubreeds•  ~75%Nelloreorcrossbred

•  88–92MNelloreorcrossbred

Nellore is widely distributed over Brazil

PonteseLacerda,MT CarlosChagas,MG

Nellore is exposed to great seasonal varia*on

NeloreLemgruber NeloreIRCA

Animals should stay healthy along the year

Toreproduce Togrowth

ABSPecplanDanielResende

To achieve sustainability in livestock produc*on • Animalbreeding•  Sanity• NutriAon• Animalwelfare•  Etc…

The annual cost with an*parasi*c for ruminants in Brazil – 2016

R$852.5M £198.2M

AdaptedfromSINDAN(2017).

Animal breeding is about to explore differences between and within breeds

Selec:onCrossbreeding

Significant difference between gene*c groups for *ck counts

AdaptedfromIbellietal.(2012).

Non significant difference between gene*c groups for number of eggs per gram

Oliveiraetal.(2013).

Non significant effect of gastrointes*nal nematodes on Nellore growth Meannumberofnematodesintheresistant(n=10)andsuscep:ble(n=10)groupsofNelloreyoungbullsnaturallyinfectedbygastrointes:nalnematodes

Bodyweightoftheresistant(n=10)andsuscep:ble(n=10)groupsofNelloreyoungbulls,naturallyinfectedwithgastrointes:nalnematodes

Nematodes Resistant Suscep:ble Significance

Haemonchusspp. 156 1,272 <0.01

Cooperiaspp. 1,500 4,807 <0.05

Oesophagostomumspp. 100 174

Trichurisspp. 22 22

Total 1,778 6,275 <0.05

AdaptedfromBricarelloetal.(2007).

Non significant effect of *ck and gastrointes*nal nematodes on Nellore growth Group N Mean(g/day) SE(g/day)

Tick

High 533 557.37 3.24

Low 568 552.17 3.12

Nematodes

High 520 553.28 3.32

Low 581 555.84 3.12

Barbosa(2016).

Do *cks and nematodes affect Nellore performance?

•  Yes.So,whytheresearchersdidn’tfindthis?

• No.So,whythefarmersspendsomuchmoneyonparasitetreatments?

Increase food safety in beef

• GeneAcvariaAonforresistancetoparasites(Acks,nematodesandEimeriaspp.)

•  SelecAonasacomplementarytoolinparasitecontrolprograms

• ReducetheuAlizaAonofchemicalsinbeefcaQleproducAonsystems

Data recording in a Nellore seedstock farm

•  Youngbullsonpastureperformancetests(294d)•  Groupsof30-35animals(8groups/year)•  70dofadaptaAon•  EvaluaAons(weightandparasitecounts)every56d,unAl550daysofage•  Upto5measurements/animal

•  FromApril2011toMay2017•  7,871Ackcounts(1,713animals,130sires)•  7,292nematodesandEimeriaspp.counts(1,712animals,130sires)•  5,920animalsinthepedigree

Distribu*ons of parasite counts are neither Gaussian nor Poisson

FiPng of Zero Inflated Poisson distribu*ons

•  Tickcountindairycows(Silvaetal.,2011)

•  Tickcountinsheep(Sae-Limetal.,2017)

•  Faecaleggcountinsheep(Wangetal.,2017)

• NumberofmasAAscasesindairycows(Rodriges-MoQaetal.,2007)

FiPng of ZIP distribu*ons

The interpreta*ons of gene*c parameters are not trivial under ZIP models •  ThereisnoobviouslyusefuldefiniAonofheritability(Rodrigues-MoQaetal.,2007).

• WeassessedtheimportanceofaddiAvegeneAcdifferencesbetweenanimalsfijngmodelswithoutandwithaddiAvegeneAceffect.

• WeassessedtherelaAonshipbetweenphenotypesandbreedingvalues(underliabilityscale).

Low phenotypic correla*on between parasite counts

0.11(0.09,0.13)

0.04(0.02,0.06)

0.14(0.11,0.16)

Gene*c varia*on was found to be important

Addi:vegene:ceffectParasite Without WithTick 42,532 42,515Nematodes 38,545 38,527Eimeriaspp. 33,366 33,359

DevianceinformaAoncriterionaccordingtostaAsAcalmodels

Gene*c varia*on was found to be important

Tick Nematode Eimeriaspp.Effect Mean Median S.D. Mean Median S.D. Mean Median S.D.

Animal(A) 0.140 0.137 0.023 0.289 0.289 0.012 0.187 0.176 0.047Permanentenvironment(Pe)

0.211 0.209 0.018 0.238 0.238 0.009 0.600 0.596 0.046

Group(Gr) 1.037 1.030 0.085 0.416 0.412 0.038 4.658 4.615 0.046

A/(A+Pe+Gr) 0.101 0.306 0.034(A+Pe)/(A+Pe+Gr) 0.253 0.559 0.145

Correla*ons between breeding values are low to moderate

0.30(0.27,0.32)

0.01(-0.02,0.03)

-0.07(-0.09,-0.04)

Moderate rela*onships between breeding values and phenotypes

0.59(0.56,0.62)

0.77(0.75,0.79)

0.41(0.37,0.45)

Tick Nematode Eimeriaspp.

Animals with the best breeding values have smaller parasite counts

Animals with the best breeding values have smaller parasite counts

Animals with the best breeding values have smaller parasite counts

Conclusions

•  ThereisgeneAcresistanceofNellorecaQletobothAcksandgastro-intesAnalparasitesAcks.

•  TickandnematodescountsmaybegeneAcallycorrelated.

• BreedingvaluesunderliabilityscalesareusefulforselecAonofresistantanimals.

Next steps

• GWASforresistancetoAcksandgastro-intesAnalparasites.

•  TofitmodelsaccounAngforinfecAvity.

•  IstheregeneAccorrelaAonbetweenresistanceandinfecAvity?

Acknowledge

• UFMG• CNPq•  FAPEMIG• CAPES• MundoNovoRanch

• RonaldoLeite•  EduardoCardoso• DanielGoncalves• AndreaWilson• OsvaldoAnacleto

Acknowledge

•  JuanPabloBoteroCarrera•  TiagoLucianoPassafaro•  LiviaLoioladosSantos• DalinnedosSantos•  FernandaRaidan• MullerGomes• GlausenLima

• AdrianeBarbosa•  LarissaKretli• MarianaMamedes• AndresaMelo• GabrielaGouveia• VirgíniaRibeiro•  LuizaAbreu•  Etc…Thankyou!