Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China; International Joint Research Centre for Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction (IJRCAGBR), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China; International Joint Research Centre for Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction (IJRCAGBR), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China; Hubei Province's Engineering Research Center in Buffalo Breeding and Products, Wuhan, China.
Animal. 2022 Nov;16(11):100653. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2022.100653. Epub 2022 Oct 10.
Type traits (TTs) can contribute to breeding animals with good economic traits such as production, longevity, fertility, and profitability. Dairy buffaloes are the second largest source of milk supply in the world, and their TTs should be taken into consideration in future dairy buffalo breeding programmes. However, the relationship between TTs and milk production traits in buffalo remains largely unknown. The study aimed to establish an early selection method for buffaloes with desirable milk performance by TTs. Using 1 908 records from 678 buffaloes, the relationship between TTs and milk production traits was analysed and the optimal growth curves of TTs related to milk production traits were constructed. We examined the correlations between 45 TTs (33 body structural, 12 udder and teat morphological traits) and three milk production traits (milk yield (MY), milk fat percentage (MF), and milk protein percentage (MP)). The results showed that the highest correlation was found between MY and udder circumference (r = 0.438), teat length (r = -0.380) or heart girth (r = -0.341). The teat distance and teat circumference exhibited a significant negative correlation with MF and MP. Rump length was the only trait that had a significant positive correlation with milk production traits, suggesting that milk performance could be comprehensively improved by including rump length in the selection procedure. Notably, we found that high milk production traits was obtained from the buffaloes with short teats (<6 cm), small heart girth (<200 cm), large udder circumference (>104 cm), long rump (>39 cm), and small distance between teats. Moreover, an early selection method for buffaloes with excellent milk performance was developed based on the non-linear models. Brody model exhibited the best fitting effect for heart girth and rump length, while the Logistic model displayed the best fitting effect for teat length. Our findings provide theoretical basis for the early selection of buffaloes with desirable milk performance.
类型特征（TTs）可以帮助培育具有良好经济特征的动物，例如生产性能、寿命、繁殖力和盈利能力。乳用水牛是世界上第二大牛奶供应来源，在未来的乳用水牛育种计划中应考虑其 TTs。然而，TTs 与水牛产奶性能之间的关系在很大程度上尚不清楚。本研究旨在通过 TTs 为具有理想产奶性能的水牛建立早期选择方法。使用 678 头水牛的 1908 条记录，分析了 TTs 与产奶性能性状的关系，并构建了与产奶性能性状相关的 TTs 的最佳生长曲线。我们检查了 45 个 TTs（33 个身体结构，12 个乳房和乳头形态特征）与三个产奶性能性状（产奶量（MY）、乳脂率（MF）和乳蛋白率（MP））之间的相关性。结果表明，MY 与乳房周长（r=0.438）、乳头长度（r=-0.380）或胸围（r=-0.341）之间的相关性最高。乳头间距和乳头周长与 MF 和 MP 呈显著负相关。臀部长度是唯一一个与产奶性能性状呈显著正相关的特征，这表明通过在选择程序中包含臀部长度，可以全面提高产奶性能。值得注意的是，我们发现具有较短乳头（<6cm）、较小胸围（<200cm）、较大乳房周长（>104cm）、较长臀部（>39cm）和较小乳头间距的水牛具有较高的产奶性能。此外，基于非线性模型，开发了一种具有优秀产奶性能的水牛早期选择方法。Brody 模型对胸围和臀部长度的拟合效果最好，而 Logistic 模型对乳头长度的拟合效果最好。我们的研究结果为具有理想产奶性能的水牛的早期选择提供了理论基础。
