A genetic analysis of parasite resistance traits in a tropically adapted line of Bos taurus
J. M. HenshallA CSIRO Livestock Industries, J. M. Rendel Laboratory, PO Box 5545, CQ Mail Centre, Qld 4702, Australia.
B Email: John.Henshall@csiro.au
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 55(11) 1109-1116 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR03085
Submitted: 28 April 2003 Accepted: 14 September 2004 Published: 26 November 2004
Abstract
For cattle raised in tropical and subtropical environments, production can be limited by the susceptibility of many breeds to parasites. Chemical control, coupled with the use of breeds with higher levels of resistance to parasites, allows beef production to be a viable industry, but at a cost. The Hereford Shorthorn (HS) line of beef cattle at Rockhampton has been used extensively to study genetic aspects of parasite resistance. The hypothesis that a gene with a large effect on resistance to cattle ticks is segregating in this line of cattle has been raised in the past, and is considered again here, with the benefit of data recorded up to the late 1990s. A model in which no major gene effect is fitted provides a satisfactory fit to the data, providing little evidence in support of the segregation of major genes for resistance to either ticks or worms in the HS line. This conclusion is supported by the lack of animals of extreme resistance in later generations, an unlikely result if key animals are assumed to be homozygous in earlier generations.
Additional keywords: beef cattle, parasites, ticks, worms.
Acknowledgments
The input of the many people involved with the HS line of cattle at the Belmont Research Station and CSIRO through the Tropical Beef Centre is gratefully acknowledged. The data used in the analyses reported here were collected for projects under the leadership of John Frisch, and his contribution is particularly acknowledged. Heather Burrow provided helpful advice on matters relating to the HS herd and parasite traits in beef cattle. Belmont Research Station and the cattle were owned by the Meat Research Corporation, who also provided project funds.
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