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Genetic control of greenhouse gas emissions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2016

Y. de Haas ,
P. C. Garnsworthy ,
B. Kuhla ,
E. Negussie ,
M. Pszczola ,
E. Wall  and
J. Lassen
Y. de Haas*
Affiliation:
Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre, Wageningen UR Livestock Research, PO Box 338, NL-6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands
P. C. Garnsworthy
Affiliation:
School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus, The University of Nottingham, Loughborough LE12 5RD, UK
B. Kuhla
Affiliation:
Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany
E. Negussie
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Institute Finland, Biometrical Genetics, Myllytie 1, 31600 Jokioinen, Finland
M. Pszczola
Affiliation:
Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Wolynska 33, 60-637 Poznan, Poland
E. Wall
Affiliation:
Animal and Veterinary Sciences, SRUC, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, EH9 3JG, UK
J. Lassen
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Centre for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, PO Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
*
†E-mail: yvette.dehaas@wur.nl
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Abstract

Climate change is a growing international concern, and it is well established that the release of greenhouse gases (GHG) is a contributing factor. So far, within animal production, there is little or no concerted effort on long-term breeding strategies to mitigate against GHG from ruminants. In recent years, several consortia have been formed to collect and combine data for genetic evaluation. The discussion areas of these consortia focus on (1) What are methane-determining factors, (2) What are genetic parameters for methane emissions, (3) What proxies can be used, and what is their association with methane emission, and (4) How to move on with breeding for lower emitting animals? The methane-determining factors can be divided into four groups: (1) rumen microbial population, (2) feed intake and diet composition, (3) host physiology and (4) host genetics. The genetic parameters show that enteric methane is a heritable trait, and that it is highly genetically correlated with dry matter intake. So far, the most useful proxies relate to feed intake, milk mid IR spectral data and fatty acids in the milk. To be able to move on with a genetic evaluation and ranking of animals for methane emission, it is crucial to make measurements on commercial farms. In order to make that possible, it will be necessary to develop phenotypes that can be used by the farmer to optimise the production on farm level. Also, it is crucial to develop equipment that makes it possible to make measurements without interfering with everyday routines or identify proxies that are highly related to methane and which could easily be measured on a large scale. International collaboration is essential to make progress in this area. This is both in terms of sharing ideas, experiences and phenotypes, but also in terms of coming to a consensus regarding what phenotype to collect and to select for.

Keywords

greenhouse gas emissionenteric methanegenetic control
Type
Full Paper
Information
Advances in Animal Biosciences , Volume 7 , Special Issue 2: Proceedings of the EAAP-European Federation of Animal Science in association with ALPA , October 2016 , pp. 196 - 199
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2016 

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