Genetic parameters for type classification of Nelore cattle on central performance tests at pasture in Brazil

The objective of this study was to characterize Nelore cattle on central performance tests in pasture, ranked by the visual classification method EPMURAS (structure, precocity, muscle, navel, breed, posture, and sexual characteristics), and to estimate genetic and phenotypic correlations between the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tropical animal health and production 2013-10, Vol.45 (7), p.1627-1634
Main Authors: Lima, Paulo Ricardo Martins, Paiva, Samuel Rezende, Cobuci, Jaime Araujo, Neto, José Braccini, Machado, Carlos Henrique Cavallari, McManus, Concepta
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Husbandry
Animals
Beef
Beef cattle
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Body Composition
Body Weight
Brazil
Breeding
bulls
Cattle - genetics
Cattle - growth & development
Cattle - physiology
early development
genetic correlation
heritability
Life Sciences
Male
Nellore
Pasture
pastures
Phenotype
phenotypic correlation
rearing
Regular Article
Reproduction
Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science
Weight Gain
zebu
Zoology
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Summary:The objective of this study was to characterize Nelore cattle on central performance tests in pasture, ranked by the visual classification method EPMURAS (structure, precocity, muscle, navel, breed, posture, and sexual characteristics), and to estimate genetic and phenotypic correlations between these parameters, including visual as well as production traits (initial and final weight on test, weight gain, and weight corrected for 550 days). The information used in the study was obtained on 21,032 Nelore bulls which were participants in the central performance test at pasture of the Brazilian Association for Zebu Breeders (ABCZ). Heritabilities obtained were from 0.19 to 0.50. Phenotypic correlations were positive from 0.70 to 0.97 between the weight traits, from 0.65 to 0.74 between visual characteristics, and from 0.29 to 0.47 between visual characteristics and weight traits. The genetic correlations were positive ranging from 0.80 to 0.98 between the characteristics of structure, precocity and musculature, from 0.13 to 0.64 between the growth characteristics, and from 0.41 to 0.97 between visual scores and weight gains. Heritability and genetic correlations indicate that the use of visual scores, along with the selection for growth characteristics, can bring positive results in selection of beef cattle for rearing on pasture.
ISSN:0049-4747
1573-7438
DOI:10.1007/s11250-013-0408-1