New Technologies in Animal Breeding

258 Pages·1982·5.216 MB·English

by  B.G. Brackett (Auth.)

Contributors
Keith J. Betteridge Robert Gilmore McKinnell
Benjamin G. Brackett Clement L. Markert
Wallis Η. Clark, Jr. J. B. Peters
Robert H. Foote George E. Seidel, Jr.
W. C. D. Hare Sarah M. Seidel
E. Keith Inskeep Thomas J. Sexton
S. P. Leibo Elizabeth L. Singh
Ann B. McGuire Davor Solter
L. Dale Van Vleck
New Technologies
in Animal Breeding
Edited by
BENJAMIN G. BRACKET!
Department of Clinical Studies-New Bolton Center
School of Veterinary Medicine, and
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
GEORGE E. SEIDEL, JR.
Animal Reproduction Laboratory
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
SARAH M. SEIDEL
Animal Reproduction Laboratory
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
1981
ACADEMIC PRESS
A Subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers
NEW YORK LONDON
PARIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SÄO PAULO SYDNEY TOKYO TORONTO
This book was produced in part from work funded by the Office
of Technology Assessment (OTA) of the United States Congress.
The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of OTA.
COPYRIGHT © 1981, BY ACADEMIC PRESS, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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ACADEMIC PRESS, INC.
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United Kingdom Edition published by
ACADEMIC PRESS, INC. (LONDON) LTD.
24/28 Oval Road, London NW1 7DX
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
New technologies in animal breeding.
Includes bibliographies and index.
1. Livestock—Breeding. 2. Breeding. I. Brackett,
Benjamin G. II. Seidel, George Ε., Jr. III. Seidel,
Sarah Μ. IV. Title: Animal breeding.
SF105.N484 636.082 81-20556
ISBN 0-12-123450-9 AACR2
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
81 82 83 84 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contributors
Numbers in parentheses indicate the pages on which the authors' contributions begin.
Keith J. Betteridge* (109), Agriculture Canada, Animal Diseases Research Insti­
tute, Nepean, Ontario K2H 8P9, Canada
Benjamin G. Bracken (3, 141, 257), Department of Clinical Studies-New Bolton
Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, and Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Kennett Square,
Pennsylvania 19348
Wallis Η. Clark, Jr. (91), Animal Science Department, University of California,
Davis, California 95616
Robert H. Foote (13), Department of Animal Science, Cornell University,
Ithaca, New York 14853
W. C. D. Hare (109), Agriculture Canada, Animal Diseases Research Institute -
Nepean, Ontario K2H 89P, Canada
E. Keith Inskeep (243), Division of Animal Science, West Virginia University,
Morgantown, West Virginia 26506
S. P. Leibot (127), Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak
Ridge, Tennessee
Ann B. McGuire (91), Animal Science Department, University of California,
Davis, California 95616
Robert Gilmore McKinnell (163), Department of Genetics and Cell Biology,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108
* Present address: Centre de Recherche en Reproduction Animale, Faculte de Medecine Vet-
erinaire, Universite de Montreal, C. P. 5000, St-Hyacinthe, Quebec J2S 7C6, Canada,
tPresent address: Rio Vista International, Box 242, Route 9, San Antonio, Texas 78227.
xi
xii Contributors
Clement L. Marken (181), Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven,
Connecticut 06511
J. B. Peters* (243), Division of Animal Science, West Virginia University,
Morgantown, West Virginia 26506
George E. Seidel, Jr. (3,41, 181, 257), Animal Reproduction Laboratory, Colo­
rado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523
Sarah M. Seidel (41, 257), Animal Reproduction Laboratory, Colorado State
University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523
Thomas J. Sexton (81),Avian Physiology Laboratory, U. S. Department of
Agriculture, SEA-AR, Beltsville, Maryland 20705
Elizabeth L. Singh (109), Agriculture Canada, Animal Diseases Research Insti­
tute, Nepean, Ontario, Canada K2H 89P
Davor Solter (201), The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania 19104
L. Dale Van Vleck (221), Department of Animal Science, Cornell University,
Ithaca, New York 14853
* Deceased.
Preface
The desirability of reviewing new reproductive technologies in animal breed­
ing became a necessity upon initiation by the Office of Technology Assessment
of the United States Congress (OTA) of a study of "Impacts of Applied Genetics:
Animal Breeding" to enlighten legislative decision-makers. In the course of this
assessment, 37 experts representing diverse areas convened in Denver,
Colorado, January 15-17, 1980, for a conference from which this book has
evolved.
This volume is intended not to provide a comprehensive treatise of
technologies of importance in breeding of domestic animals but to provide the
reader with an appreciation for "what's new" within the framework of the
animal breeding industry along with relevant implications. In early chapters, this
volume brings together concise summations of the state-of-the art, along with
thoughts on future directions, for several animal industries (artificial insemina­
tion, embryo transfer, poultry breeding, and aquaculture) of great importance in
the production of food. In the middle chapters, developing technologies (sex
selection, frozen storage of oocytes and embryos, in vitro fertilization and em­
bryo culture, amphibian nuclear transplantation, parthenogenesis, identical twins
and cloning in mammals, and gene transfer in mammalian cells) along with
potential applications and impacts on animal production are presented. In final
chapters, analyses of potential genetic impacts (artificial insemination, sex selec­
tion, embryo transfer, cloning, and selfing in dairy cattle) and special economic
considerations (benefits of reproductive management, synchronization of estrus,
and artificial insemination of beef cattle and sheep) are presented, cases for
which such illustrations were deemed most appropriate. The 14 chapters were
written by 17 specialists representing a similar number of disciplines, but pulled
together by a common interest in the intriguing possibilities for rapid extension of
xiii
xiv Preface
basic knowledge generated through research to very practical applications in
animal breeding. Emphasis is on food-producing and large domestic animals,
especially the bovine species. Reproductive processes in these animals represent
the most appropriate targets for application of the new technologies presented.
As this book goes to press, feelings of sadness are shared with the family and
many friends of Dr. J. B. Peters, a fellow contributor and esteemed colleague,
recently deceased. Dr. Peters will be remembered for his devotion to the im­
provement of agriculture and for his good work in animal science at West
Virginia University.
The editors gratefully acknowledge the excellence and cooperation of each of
the contributors, and the input of every participant in the OTA Conference on
^Impacts of Applied Genetics: Animal Breeding," and of scientists far and wide
who have generously contributed information to the OTA assessment and to the
literature—with apologies in advance for failure, in many instances, to make
more proper acknowledgments. Special thanks are due to Miss Pamela J. Salsbury
for secretarial assistance and to Mr. Lawrence Burton, Dr. Gretchen S. Kolsrud,
and Dr. Zsolt Harsanyi of the Genetics and Population Program, OTA, U.S.
Congress, for their effective collaboration in the early stages of this project. The
interest, encouragement, and cooperation of the staff of Academic Press in
expeditious publication are greatly appreciated.
Benjamin G. Brackett
George E. Seidel, Jr.
Sarah M. Seidel
1
Perspectives on Animal
Breeding
GEORGE E. SEIDEL, JR., AND BENJAMIN G.
BRACKETT
I. Overview of Animals in Society 3
A. Role of Animals in Human Society 3
B. Competition between People and Animals for Food 4
C. Applications of Genetic Improvement 4
II. Perspectives on Animal Breeding 5
A. Interactions between Genotype and Environment 5
B. Characteristics of Genetic Improvement 5
C. Beginnings of Animal Breeding 6
D. Interdisciplinary Aspects of Animal Breeding 6
E. Problems of Animal Breeders 7
F. Circumventing Chance in Sexual Reproduction 7
G. Special Opportunities 8
III. Conclusions 9
References 9
I. OVERVIEW OF ANIMALS IN SOCIETY
A. Role of Animals in Human Society
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33
NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN ANIMAL BREEDING
Copyright © 1981 by Academic Press, Inc.
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
ISBN 0-12-123450-9
4 George Ε. Seidel, Jr., and Benjamin G. Brackett
nutrient, vitamin B , which is not found in nature outside of animal tissues.
12
Furthermore, in the United States, animal products provide 69% of the protein in
the average human diet, 80% of the calcium, about two-thirds of the phosphorus
and vitamin B , the majority of vitamin B , as well as a substantial minority of
2 6
most other nutrients (Harper et al., 1980). Clearly, many human societies could
survive without animals, but this would be both difficult and artificial, particu­
larly with nonaffluent cultures.
Intangible values associated with man's relationships with animals, especially
dogs and cats, often have profound emotional and psychological influences.
Such influences have improved the quality of life for many, most strikingly for
the very young, for the very old, and for those with certain kinds of mental
illness. The following pages deal mainly with large, domestic animals, but
food-producing species, for which the application of new technologies to en­
hance breeding might find encouragement from human society worldwide, will
also be discussed. The important role of laboratory animals, e.g., frogs,
hamsters, mice, rats, and rabbits, as experimental models to improve efficiency
in animal breeding should be appreciated. The use of animals with appropriate
genetic characteristics for studying human disease, nutrition, and other health-
related problems is also of paramount importance to human society.
B. Competition between People and Animals for Food
It is often less efficient to feed plant products to animals than to consume them
directly. On the other hand, the most abundant plant material, cellulose, is of
little direct nutritive value to man, whereas cellulose is an excellent feed for
ruminants and animals with a functional caecum. Domestic animals frequently
eat what is aesthetically objectionable, of marginal or no food value, or even
harmful to man, e.g., grass along the road, garbage, acorns, brewers' grains,
beet pulp, citrus pulp, straw, cottonseed hulls, and stalk silage. It is true that
animals compete with people for grain, but this argument has frequently been
presented in a simplistic manner. A small amount of grain (or other relatively
high energy substances, including some by-products) can greatly amplify the
amount of food produced by animals that eat primarily nongrain feed. Fur­
thermore, when grain becomes scarce and prices increase, much less is fed to
animals. This happened with dairy cattle in 1972 (see Fig. 3 in Chapter 2, this
volume). Animals, therefore, act as a buffer for grain prices and supplies. When
there are surpluses, animals utilize the excess. When there is scarcity, alternate
feed supplies are used and/or animal numbers are reduced.
C. Applications of Genetic Improvement
One can logically conclude that domestic animals are likely to continue to be
essential in most human societies and that their continued genetic improvement is
1. Perspectives on Animal Breeding 5
worthwhile. By and large, this book is limited to considerations of how to apply
new technologies to food-producing domestic animals. However, many of the
technologies will also be applicable to companion animals, circus and zoo ani­
mals, laboratory animals used for agricultural, biomedical, and industrial re­
search, and game and nongame wild animals (including avian and aquatic
species). The technologies described may be particularly effective in rescuing
some species from extinction or even possibly in recreating extinct species. The
technologies also can contribute to greater quantities and improved quality of
animal by-products, which frequently are worth more than the food component,
e.g., wool, hides, aggressive behavior at rodeos, and velvet from antlers for use
as an aphrodisiac in the Orient.
II. PERSPECTIVES ON ANIMAL BREEDING
A. Interactions between Genotype and Environment
Why improve, or at least modify, the genetic makeup of animals? Fortunately,
the classical arguments of genotype versus environment are obsolete. It is gener­
ally recognized that the environment is extremely important in producing a
phenotypic product, such as milk or meat. However, in order to obtain a desired
phenotype, both the genotype and the environment must be considered jointly.
For example, poultry, regardless of genetic makeup, would freeze to death in
winter in much of North America if not protected. Similarly, while dairy cows
have calves that can be used for meat, such cows do extremely poorly on the
western range in North America because they cannot find enough feed to have
normal reproductive cycles and provide milk for the calf too; the genetic propen­
sity to divert nutrients to milk results in a huge nursing calf but no pregnancy for
the next year. Conversely, although beef cows produce milk, they would quickly
be culled in a dairy herd because of being unprofitable, i.e., they are not geneti­
cally geared to turn the large quantities of nutrients into large quantities of milk.
It should be noted, however, that, although interactions between genotype and
environment are important, they are not so exacting that strains developed in one
environment cannot be used to advantage in some others. For example, bulls
whose progeny are ranked differently in terms of milk production maintain the
same rankings regardless of whether the cows are kept in North America, central
Europe, southern Europe, Israel, or subtropical Latin America (see McDowell
etal., 1976.)
B. Characteristics of Genetic Improvement
Although it is important to provide optimal environments for animal produc­
tion, animal breeding is aimed at providing optimal genotypes for the available