The main objective of this project is to unravel the genetic sensitivity of Nellore cattle to environmental variation. For this, phenotypic and genotypic data from Nellore cattle raised under diverse environmental conditions will be studied. Sensitivity to environmental variation will be assessed for several growth and reproduction traits. Data from commercial breeding programs will be used, encompassing phenotypic records from approximately one million calves and 300,000 heifers/cows, and genotypic information from roughly 15,000 animals which were genotyped with the Illumina Bovine HD (HD) chip or with a lower density chip and had their genotypes imputed to the HD. For each trait, reaction norm models will be applied to estimate the response of each animal to environmental change. The estimated random regression coefficients of each animal will be used as pseudo-phenotypes on genome-wide association (GWA) analyses to identify candidate regions and genes associated to sensitivity to environmental variation. A meta-analysis of the GWA results will also be performed aiming to identify possible pleiotropic regions affecting sensitivity. Finally, cross-validation studies will be carried out to assess the accuracy of genomic predictions of sensitivity to environmental variation, under different methods. The results of the present study are expected to provide support for the development of strategies and tools to select Nellore cattle more able to cope with environmental variation, aiming to increase efficiency of beef production.
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(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)