EFTBA Veterinary Newsletter 22

EFTBA Veterinary Newsletter 22 January 2017 Traditional Conventional . “Is performance selection, breeding the great historical contribu- methodsversus tion of Thoroughbred breed- sympathetic ing, still effective?” – asked - the geneticist Langlois (1996) training A review . He said ‘yes’, but considered the concepts currently in use as ‘very outdated’ Eclipse by Marske out of Spilletta by Regulus . Traditional methods are limi- “King of Sires” (Lowe 1913) ted and discussions of performance genetics are theore- Welcome to EFTBA’s veterinary newsletter tical due to our inability to Dear EFTBA Members, headed by Dr Des Leadon, as we are precisely identify the various Dear European Breeders, following their scientific lead knowing trait components and their interactions the depth of their expertise. Genomics… and genomics again. Even if this debate takes an important From an outside point of view, one part of our time, the EFTBA was active- “Many thanks to Mrs. could feel like this topic is taking an ly represented at the recent ITBF mee- enormous part in the EFTBA activi- ting in South Africa. Congratulations to Eva-Maria Bucher- ties. And this should be right. In our Honorary Chairman who was no- fact, it is now and in the coming Haefner, Moyglare minated at the head of the new ITBF months that we will have to ask executive committee. Stud Farm, for her ourselves the right questions about There may be a Brexit in other part of genomics. The technics are moving the politics but there is a perfect har- valued sponsorship at speed light and, as the defen- mony at the European Horse level. of this newsletter.” sors of the European breeders, we don’t want to be at the back of With kind regards the pack. Once again, let me th ank Hanspeter Meier and all the Hubert Honoré Genomics Advisory committee Hubert Honoré Chairman, EFTBA Editorial In our deliberations at meetings in deavors and monitoring their deve- the recent past, contributions to lopment is most important for us. We genetics and genomics always pla- already delved into this subject in yed an important role and - most two of our first newsletters (5 & 6) - probably - will be of an even big- but this was in 2011, and in modern ger meaning for the future. This for genomics, five/six years already are alt the very simple reason that breed- a pretty long time. ing of animals addresses the evalu- With this issue, just letOutstanding, us listen to the first ation of the genetic value of live- XYopinion s of some un prejudiced ex- stock . Its scientific theory incorpo- perts about our traditional methods rates population genetics, quan- in the course of earlier times. titative genetics, statistics, and in Dr Hanspeter MeierIntroduction ourIntroduction days now also molecular genomics. These subjects are nothing EFTBA veterinary advisor & Newsletter else than the essence of our en- editor 1 Introduction ven this cost decrease have also facilitated the production of whole-genome sequences for several In the opinion of André Eggen (2014), genomics animal species – among them the horse. created nothing short of a paradigm shift in animal An impressive event for demonstrating the develop- breeding. Or in other words, he speaks of a new ment of modern horse breeding in comparison to era, the “genomics era” in animal breeding, thanks other fields in animals breeding occurred in 1990. to the rapid development of this new technology At the 4th World Congress on Genetics applied to over the past two decades. Livestock Production in Edinburgh, horse breeding However, this development didn’t start in the world was included as a special topic for the first time. of horse breeding. The most important reason for This was regarded as recognition of the importance this research in animal breeding was nothing else of the horse as a valuable asset to human welfare than the increase in growth of the global popula- in the form of leisure and sporting activities in mo- tion. On the basis of current projections, the world dern society. But it also showed the appreciation of population will reach 9 billion people by 2030. the Congress organizers for the standard of recent Meeting the growing food need, using fewer re- scientific research published in the field of horse sources, therefore is one of the greatest challenges breeding. The title of the session was “Breeding for that agriculture is facing now. Recent estimations performance traits in horses” (Arnason, 1990). by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2006) indicate that to meet Traditional and new breeding methods the increasing demand, food production must Nobody else knows better than we that breeders double in the next 50 years. It is therefore critical to have very effectively manipulated the genomes of apply technical and scientific advancements syste- livestock species for centuries. They made use of matically in feeding, nutrition, genetics, reproduc- the fact that natural variations exist within a spe- tion, animal health control, and general improve- cies, within a breed, and within a population. Tradi- ment of animal husbandry to fill the coming pro- tional breeding has been done in the absence of ductivity gaps. The largest gains will come from in- molecular knowledge of the genes acting on a novations that accelerate agriculture productivity quantitative trait locus. Breeders have enhanced while reducing costs and limiting environmental im- production traits in their herds by selecting superior pacts (Capper, 2011; Eggen, 2014). individuals as progenitors for the next generations. So far, these traditional breeding methods have Big Expectations of Genomics been considered good enough, but everyone also The rapid development of genomics over the past knows that these traditional methods are limited. two decades has opened new paths to address The main reasons for this fact are that ‘easy-to- the scientific basis of livestock biology and bree- measure production traits’ have hit an asymptote, ding. Nowadays we have direct access to the full and that ‘more difficult-to-measure traits’ cannot DNA sequence of the horse and therefore a new effectively be selected by using traditional me- and more objective view of the genetic value of thods. Difficulties exist also for traits with a low heri- animals. This fact promises to enable a much more tability or for parameters which cannot be quickly, objective prediction in breeding animals which is inexpensively and correctly measured in a large not limited to a few production traits, but e.g. also number of animals. Such traits are e.g. longevity, for traits in relation to the soundness of animals. disease resistance and fertility – often critically im- One of the triggering factors for the development portant subjects. Geneticists of our days therefore of the genomic era was the implementation of are of the opinion that selection for these traits must most efficient new genomic tools – a development be achieved through genomic means and it is con- which also led to the amazing fact that the price to sidered that a major proportion – if not all – of the sequence a single nucleotide of DNA has fallen 100 breeding animals will be genotyped in the future million fold since 1990 (Eggen, 2014). In todays (Eggen, 2014; Ibanez-Escriche & Simianer, 2016). cattle industry for instance, this allows projects to genotype more than a million animals (e.g. food ef- The action for such plans in animal breeding there- ficiency and methane emission in dairy-cattle). fore are, to improve and enhance the traditional The rate of information coming from current-gene- breeding methods with genomic selection. The esti- ration DNA sequencers is increasing exponentially, mation of breeding values (EBV) will genomically be and faster than other comparable high-growth sce- enhanced (GEBV). narios. Technological breakthroughs that have dri- 2 What does that mean for us, now? – I guess we best In regard to more specific information on breeding might have a look at the traditional breeding theo- itself, the “Order how to breed Horses” by Hodson ries in the TB-industry by means of a review of litera- and coworkers (1717) finds great interest, as he al- ture on this subject, first. ready mentioned one of our breeding goals – the soundness. Referring to “The Choice of your Stallion and Stud Mares” he wrote: “First and principally you Some historic testimonies of Thoroughbred- must foresee, that your Stallion and Stud Mares be breeding both of good and lively nature, and not subject to any natural Diseases. For as heavy (broken wind) In the search for hints to the beginning of breeding Horses and Mares will breed Colts of roilish and Thoroughbreds, we have to consult the English lite- heavy nature; so if they be infected with any na- rature, of course. And luckily for us, at these times tural Disease, their Colts for the most part shall be Shakespeare (1564-1616) gave us an idea on what troubled with the same Disease.” an ‘ideal horse’ should look like: And finally, approaching the subject of genetics, The ideal Horse the dissertation of William Osmer (1756) must find Round-hoofed, short-jointed, fetlocks shag and long, great interest (A Dissertation on Horses: Wherein it is Broad breast, full eye, small head, and nostril wide, demonstrated, by Matters of Fact, as well as from High crest, short ears, straight legs and passing strong, the Principles of Philosophy. That Innate Qualities do Thin mane, thick tail, broad buttock, tender hide. not exist, and that excellence of this Animal

Load more