Estimating the heritability of nitrogen and carbon isotopes in the tail hair of beef cattle

Abstract

Background: The natural abundance of nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) and carbon (δ¹³C) isotopes in animal tissues are used to estimate an animal's efficiency in nitrogen utilization, and their feed conversion efficiency, especially in tropical grazing systems with prolonged protein restriction. It is postulated that selection for improving these two characteristics (δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C) would assist the optimisation of the adaptation in ever-changing environments, particularly in response to climate change. The aim of this study was to determine the heritability of δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C in the tail hair of tropically adapted beef cattle to validate their inclusion in genetic breeding programs.

Methods: In total, 492 steers from two breeds, Brahman (n = 268) and Droughtmaster (n = 224) were used in this study. These steers were managed in two mixed breed contemporary groups across two years (year of weaning): steers weaned in 2019 (n = 250) and 2020 (n = 242). Samples of tail switch hair representing hair segments grown during the dry season were collected and analysed for δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C with isotope-ratio mass spectrometry. Heritability and variance components were estimated in a univariate multibreed (and single breed) animal model in WOMBAT and ASReml using three generations of full pedigree.

Results: The estimated heritability of both traits was significantly different from 0, i.e. 0.43 ± 0.14 and 0.41 ± 0.15 for δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C, respectively. These traits had favourable moderate to high genetic and phenotypic correlations (- 0.78 ± 0.16 and - 0.40 ± 0.04, respectively). The study also provides informative single-breed results in spite of the limited sample size, with estimated heritability values of 0.37 ± 0.19 and 0.19 ± 0.17 for δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C in Brahman, and 0.36 ± 0.21 and 0.46 ± 0.22 for δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C in Droughtmaster, respectively.

Conclusions: The findings of this study show, for the first time, that the natural abundances of both nitrogen and carbon isotopes in the tail hair in cattle may be moderately heritable. With further research and validation, tail hair isotopes can become a practical tool for the large-scale selection of more efficient cattle.