Modeling Genotype by Environment Interaction for Precision Farming and Improved Animal Welfare
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Genetics and Genomics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 13428
Special Issue Editors
Interests: genomic selection; genotyping strategies; genotype by environment interaction; meat quality; selection index
Interests: livestock genomics; quantitative genetics; physiological genomics; behavior; welfare; resilience; small ruminants; cattle; pigs; environmental efficiency
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Livestock genetic improvement is experiencing a new phase of increased relevance, where novel traits, sophisticated statistical methods and high-throughput technologies are constantly being proposed or refined. Such advancements are resulting in faster rates of genetic progress compared to the pre-genomics era. The large majority of livestock breeding programs have primarily focused on productive traits, but more recently, worldwide selection indexes are being refined to incorporate indicators of reproductive performance, animal resilience, adaptation to changing environments, and health traits. Meanwhile, agriculture in general is moving to data-based decision making, where a wealth of data and heavy use of computational tools are employed every day for planning, monitoring, and managing livestock production and breeding.
Large datasets were necessary for performing genetic improvement of livestock before they became popular for decision making on other contexts of production. Now, genetic improvement is moving towards the incorporation of large and comprehensive datasets, that include phenotypic, genomic, physiological and environmental variables into statistical genomic models. This expansion in tools available happens contemporarily to the raising importance of welfare traits as breeding goals, driven by market demand and its increased economic importance (e.g. heat stress tolerance). The evaluation of animal welfare involves a complete assessment of the animal’s physiological, behavioral, physical, and emotional state. Therefore, animal welfare cannot be reduced to a single trait, but is composed of a wide spectrum of variables, which are probably determined by interactions between the genotype and environmental effects. Precision livestock farming and selection for animal welfare show an inherent advantage of including genotype by environment interactions. This involves scouting for new data sources (e.g. sensors), testing or refining statistical models (e.g. machine learning), unravelling genomic regions associated with such interactions, and engaging livestock industry stakeholders about the potential of these new methods and approaches (e.g. interactive selection index composition).
We invite original research papers, literature reviews and technical notes that address the topic of selection for novel and innovative traits incorporating the modelling of genotype by environment interactions. List of topics includes, but is not limited to: use of sensors in measuring phenotypes or determining condition, selection and genomic basis of tolerance to thermal stress, modelling of longitudinal data, behavioral genomics, and genetic by environment interaction in the determination of relevant breeding goals and product quality traits. Papers having any livestock species as subject are welcome.
Prof. Francesco Tiezzi
Prof. Luiz F. Brito
Prof. Breno Fragomeni
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- Genomic selection
- Genotype by environment interaction
- Heat tolerance
- Animal welfare
- Precision livestock farming
- Animal resilience
- Longitudinal data
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