Dairy cattle farmers' preferences for different breeding tools

Breeding technologies play a significant role in improving dairy cattle production. Scientifically proven tools for improved management and genetic gain in dairy herds, such as sexed semen, beef semen, genomic testing, dairy crossbreeding, and multiple ovulation embryo transfer (MOET), are readily available to dairy farmers. However, despite good accessibility, decreasing costs, and continuous development of these tools, their use in Sweden is limited. This study investigated Swedish dairy farmers' preferences for breeding tools through a survey including a discrete choice experiment. The survey was distributed online to 1 521 Swedish farmers and by an open link published through a farming magazine. In total, the study included 204 completed responses. The discrete choice experiment consisted of 10 questions with two alternative combinations, which gave 48 combinations in total. Utility values and part-worth values were computed using a conditional logit model based on the responses in the discrete choice experiment for nine groups of respondents: one group with all respondents, two groups based on respondents using dairy crossbreeding or not within the past 12 months, two based on herd size, two based on respondent age, and two based on whether respondents had used breeding advisory services or not. The strongest preferences in all groups were for using sexed semen and beef semen. Genomic testing was also significantly preferred by all groups of respondents. Except in large herds, MOET on own animals was significantly and relatively strongly disfavoured by all groups. Buying embryos had no significant utility value to any group. Dairy crossbreeding had low and insignificant utility values in the group of all respondents, but it was strongly favoured by the group that had used dairy crossbreeding within the past 12 months, and it was disfavoured by the group that had not. Part-worth values of combined breeding tools showed that combinations of sexed and beef semen, alone or with genomic testing without dairy crossbreeding, were the most preferred tools. Compared with the most common combinations of breeding tools used in the past 12 months, the part-worth values indicated that Swedish dairy farmers may prefer to use breeding tools more than they do today. Statements on the different breeding tools indicated that the respondents agreed with the benefits attributed to the breeding tools, but these benefits may not be worth the cost of genomic testing and the time consumption of MOET. These valuable insights can be used for further development of breeding tools.     

Brief Measures of the Animal Attitude Scale

ABSTRACT

There is increasing interest among social and behavioral scientists in brief measures of attitudes and personality traits. Based on factor analysis and using an existing data set (n = 400 adults), we constructed a 5- and a 10-item version of the widely used animal attitude Scale (AAS). Both versions were highly correlated with the original 20-item AAS (rs > 0.95, p < 0.001), and both versions demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity. The AAS-5 and the AAS-10 have excellent psychometric properties and offer alternatives for researchers who need convenient and short measures of attitudes related to animal welfare.     

Livestock grazing in intermountain depressional wetlands: effects on breeding waterfowl

Livestock grazing is a prevalent land use in western North American intermountain wetlands, and physical and biotic changes related to grazing-related disturbance can potentially limit wetland habitat value for waterfowl. We evaluated breeding waterfowl use in 34 wetlands in relation to water retention, amount of wetlands on the landscape, and livestock grazing intensity. The study was conducted over 2 years in the southern intermountain region of British Columbia, Canada. For a subset of 17 wetlands, we measured aquatic invertebrate abundance over 1 year. Waterfowl breeding pairs and broods were classified into three functional groups: dabbling ducks, and two types of diving ducks, overwater and cavity nesters. We evaluated candidate models with variables considered singly and in combination using the Akaike Information Criterion. When selected, bare ground (an indicator of grazing intensity) and wetland density were negatively associated with breeding use while wetland fullness and invertebrate density were positively associated. Each factor was a significant predictor in at least one of the models, but unexpectedly, grazing intensity was the most consistent predictor of waterfowl wetland use (e.g., it was present in more ‘best models’ than wetland fullness). Grazing was associated with declines in the number of waterfowl pairs and broods, likely mediated through effects on wetland vegetation and aquatic macroinvertebrates. Models with site- and landscape-scale variables generally performed better than simpler models. Waterfowl breeding use of wetlands can be improved by reduced livestock grazing intensity adjacent to wetlands and by grazing later in the season. Wetland water retention is also an important constraint on waterfowl use of wetlands and may become more limiting with a shifting climate.     

Fungal transposons: from mobile elements towards molecular tools

Over the last few years an increasing number of transposons has been identified and characterized in filamentous fungi. This includes members of all known eukaryotic classes of transposable elements. Most interestingly, transposons have also been identified in fungi that are used in biotechnology which could provide new tools for strain improvement or gene tagging. Transposons have already been used for diagnostic and population analysis of fungal strains. The first attempts towards transposon-aided gene tagging have been promising and future efforts will almost certainly add a new and powerful method for gene identification in filamentous fungi. Received: 12 February 1999 / Revision received: 8 April 1999 / Accepted: 9 April 1999     

Eucalyptus applied genomics: from gene sequences to breeding tools

Eucalyptus is the most widely planted hardwood crop in the tropical and subtropical world because of its superior growth, broad adaptability and multipurpose wood properties. Plantation forestry of Eucalyptus supplies high-quality woody biomass for several industrial applications while reducing the pressure on tropical forests and associated biodiversity. This review links current eucalypt breeding practices with existing and emerging genomic tools. A brief discussion provides a background to modern eucalypt breeding together with some current applications of molecular markers in support of operational breeding. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and genetical genomics are reviewed and an in-depth perspective is provided on the power of association genetics to dissect quantitative variation in this highly diverse organism. Finally, some challenges and opportunities to integrate genomic information into directional selective breeding are discussed in light of the upcoming draft of the Eucalyptus grandis genome. Given the extraordinary genetic variation that exists in the genus Eucalyptus, the ingenuity of most breeders, and the powerful genomic tools that have become available, the prospects of applied genomics in Eucalyptus forest production are encouraging.     

Livestock drugs and disease: the fatal combination behind breeding failure in endangered bearded vultures

There is increasing concern about the impact of veterinary drugs and livestock pathogens as factors damaging wildlife health, especially of threatened avian scavengers feeding upon medicated livestock carcasses. We conducted a comprehensive study of failed eggs and dead nestlings in bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) to attempt to elucidate the proximate causes of breeding failure behind the recent decline in productivity in the Spanish Pyrenees. We found high concentrations of multiple veterinary drugs, primarily fluoroquinolones, in most failed eggs and nestlings, associated with multiple internal organ damage and livestock pathogens causing disease, especially septicaemia by swine pathogens and infectious bursal disease. The combined impact of drugs and disease as stochastic factors may result in potentially devastating effects exacerbating an already high risk of extinction and should be considered in current conservation programs for bearded vultures and other scavenger species, especially in regards to dangerous veterinary drugs and highly pathogenic poultry viruses.     

Measuring Motivation in Swine: The Food-Metric Scale

Understanding how nonhuman animals such as swine respond to their environment and understanding how to provide them with a good quality of life involves using a range of experimental approaches. More and more, ethological researchers are turning to operant methods to answer some of these questions. Employing an operant such as a lever, researchers can assess how hard animals will work to get access to environmental resources: increased space or social contact. It is difficult, however, to determine how the effort made by the animals relates to the degree to which they need the resource and, in particular, how to interpret intermediate levels of responding. One approach to understanding the level of need is to compare it with familiar states of deprivation such as hunger. Food is an environmental resource known to range from low to high value depending on deprivation level. Depriving animals of a fixed proportion of their daily ad libitum intake allows the animals to demonstrate the levels of responding produced at satiation: 23 hr deprivation and a range of intermediate points. The resulting scale has both empirical and intuitive value and can help in understanding the value of various degrees of operant effort. Ultimately, this information will help in deciding which environmental conditions should be provided to swine as part of routine husbandry.     

Evaluation of farmers' attitude and perception toward production risk: Lessons from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province,Pakistan

The variations in farming risk are classified into three key categories: market liberalization, natural disasters such as floods or drought, and climate change. This study aims at filling the existing research gap by the assessment of risk attitude and risk perceptions toward various types of risks. Primary data of 600 respondents were collected through a structured questionnaire in four flood-prone districts namely Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, and Nowshera of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan. Equally Likely Certainty Equivalent and risk matrix techniques were utilized in determining the risk attitude and risk perceptions among the farmers. A probit regression model was used to analyze the relationships among dependent and independent variables. Findings of the study show that majority of the farmers were risk-averse, and floods, high input prices, crop diseases, and excessive precipitation were the main risks perceived by the farmers. Results of the probit regression model indicated that age, education level, farm location, off-farm income, and access to market information were the main factors that affect the farmers' risk attitude and perceptions. The research offers essential findings that can be used by policy-makers in the farming sector and researchers to understand risk attitude and perceptions of farmers empirically.     

The art of vector engineering: towards the construction of next-generation genetic tools

When recombinant DNA technology was developed more than 40 years ago, no one could have imagined the impact it would have on both society and the scientific community. In the field of genetic engineering, the most important tool developed was the plasmid vector. This technology has been continuously expanding and undergoing adaptations. Here, we provide a detailed view following the evolution of vectors built throughout the years destined to study microorganisms and their peculiarities, including those whose genomes can only be revealed through metagenomics. We remark how synthetic biology became a turning point in designing these genetic tools to create meaningful innovations. We have placed special focus on the tools for engineering bacteria and fungi (both yeast and filamentous fungi) and those available to construct metagenomic libraries. Based on this overview, future goals would include the development of modular vectors bearing standardized parts and orthogonally designed circuits, a task not fully addressed thus far. Finally, we present some challenges that should be overcome to enable the next generation of vector design and ways to address it.     

Measuring and Validating a General Cancer Predisposition Perception Scale: An Adaptation of the Revised-IPQ-Genetic Predisposition Scale

Background

Illness perceptions are linked to individual help-seeking and preventive behaviors. Previous illness perception studies have identified five dimensions of illness-related experience and behaviour. The Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) for genetic predisposition (IPQ-R-GP) was developed to measure illness perceptions in those genetically-predisposed to blood disease. We adapted the IPQ-R-GP to measure perceptions of generalized cancer predisposition. This paper describes the development and validation of the Cancer Predisposition Perception Scale (CPPS).

Methods

The draft CPPS scale was first administered to 167 well Hepatitis B carriers and 123 other healthy individuals and the factor structure was examined using Exploratory Factor Analysis. Then the factor structure was confirmed in a second sample comprising 148 healthy controls, 150 smokers and 152 passive smokers using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).

Results

Six-factors comprising 26 items provided optimal fit by eigen and scree-plot methods, accounting for 58.9% of the total variance. CFA indicated good fit of the six-factor model after further excluding three items. The six factors, Emotional representation (5 items), Illness coherence (4 items), Treatment control (3 items), Consequences (5 items), Internal locus of control (2 items) and External locus of control (4 items) demonstrated adequate-to-good subscale internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.63–0.90). Divergent validity was suggested by low correlations with optimism, self-efficacy, and scales for measuring physical and psychological health symptoms.

Conclusion

The CPPS appears to be a valid measure of perceived predisposition to generic cancer risks and can be used to examine cancer-risk-related cognitions in individuals at higher and lower cancer risk.     

Measuring rice farmers’ risk perceptions and attitude: Evidence from Pakistan

Abstract

The agriculture sector is confronting numerous types of risk. Like other crops’ farmers, rice growers are also facing multifarious challenges, including production and environmental risk. On the one hand, they are suffering from water shortage. On the other hand, if a flood occurs, there is no proper water reservation management, especially in developing countries. Global warming is another erotic topic for agriculture sustainability. To address the growers’ perceptions and their attitudes toward such types of risks, a farm base survey was carried out, and rice farmers were investigated in Pakistan. Methods of equally likely certainty equivalent and risk matrix were applied to investigate the farmers’ risk perceptions and attitude. A probit model was also used to estimate the factors that influence farmers’ perceptions and attitudes toward risks. The outcomes of the study show that flood, input high prices, increasing temperature, and crop diseases are the perceiving risks among rice farmers. Different types of socio-economic factors are influencing farmers’ risk perceptions and their attitudes, such as age, education level, a distance of farms from rivers, and non-farm income. This study provides valuable information to the policymakers and concerning authorities to apprehend agricultural risks among rice farmers and farming sustainability, especially in developing countries.     

Breeding without breeding: minimum fingerprinting effort with respect to the effective population size

We present a probabilistic model to minimize the fingerprinting effort associated with the implementation of the “breeding without breeding” scheme under partial pedigree reconstruction. Our approach is directed at achieving a declared target population’s minimum effective population size (N _e ), following the pedigree reconstruction and genotypic selection and is based on the graph theory algorithm. The primary advantage of the proposed method is to reduce the cost associated with fingerprinting before the implementation of the pedigree reconstruction for seed parent–offspring derived from breeding arboreta and production or natural populations. Stochastic simulation was conducted to test the method’s efficiency assuming a simple polygenic model and a single trait. Hypothetical population consisted of 30 parental trees that were paired at random (selfing excluded), resulting in 600 individuals (potential candidates for forwards selection). The male parentage was assumed initially unknown. The model was used to estimate the minimum genotyping sample size needed to reaching the prescribed N _e . Results were compared with the known pedigree data. The model was successful in revealing the true relationship pattern over the whole range of N _e . Two to three offspring entered genotyping to meet the N _e  = 2 while 41 to 43 were required to satisfy the N _e  = 14. Importantly, genetic gain was affected at the lower limits of the genotyping effort. Doubling the number of parents resulted in considerable reduction of the genotyping effort at higher N _e values.     

Bioethanol from maize cell walls: genes,molecular tools,and breeding prospects

In the last decade, cellulosic ethanol has caught the growing interest of governments and private investors worldwide as it brings the promise of responsible renewable-energy and an opportunity to depart from an oil-reliant economy. Alongside advances in bioprocessing technologies, the development of specialized bioenergy crops is seen as a pressing industrial necessity, and while C4 perennials (e.g., Miscanthus, switchgrass, and sugarcane) have been coined the most promising candidates for the production of lignocellulosic biomass, maize should not be overlooked. In this review, we have addressed the benefits of advancing maize as a second-generation bioenergy feedstock. We have also analyzed current knowledge on the maize cell wall and promising genetic strategies for its modification, given that lignocellulose recalcitrance represents the most crucial breeding target in bioenergy crop research programs. In addition to lignin, a focus on the underlying genetic basis of cellulose, hemicellulose, and ferulate cross-linking patterns, as well as their regulation, has been warranted. A comprehensive overview of the state-of-art of genomic and phenotyping strategies available for bioenergy crop research is also provided. Overall, maize represents an outstanding model organism for understanding complex cell wall characteristics and defining the path for breeders looking to improve this and other promising bioenergy grasses. With an extensive array of dedicated agronomic and genomic resources at hand, we believe that breeding maize with improved processing amenability is a likely prospect but would like to remind readers that advances in high-biomass yielding properties, improved agronomic hardiness, and enhanced processing efficiency will also be necessary.     

New molecular tools to improve the efficiency of breeding for increased drought resistance

The advent of molecular markers (particularly RFLP- and PCR-derived) for use as probes for genomic DNA has revolutionized the genetic analysis of crop plants and provided not only geneticists, but also physiologists, agronomists and breeders with valuable new tools to identify traits of importance in improving resistance to abiotic stresses. For the breeder, a genetic map saturated with molecular markers allows selection for certain characters to be carried out much more efficiently and effectively than was possible previously. Two areas of molecular marker technology that are proving particularly useful in identifying traits of value for stress resistance and introducing them into improved varieties are in situ hybridization with fluorescent-labelled molecular probes and quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis with either radioactively- or cold-labelled probes. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) takes out much of the cytological tedium previously associated with monitoring the introgression of chromosomes and DNA fragments from one species to another. Labelled DNA can be prepared that is specific to a particular species and used to visualize in chromosome preparations the presence of chromosomes or chromosomal fragments from that species amongst the recipient's chromosomes. This is being used to help transfer genes for drought resistance and salt tolerance from alien species into Graminaceous crops. DNA probes showing polymorphism between the donor and recipient species can also be used to monitor the incorporation of alien genes from chromosome addition lines into the recipient species. High density molecular maps allow the location of all major genes regulating the expression of a particular trait to be determined. Statistical methods have been developed to allow QTL for the trait to be identified. Not only does this allow the complexity of genetic control of any trait to be determined, but by comparing the extent to which confidence intervals of QTL for different traits overlap it is possible to examine the likelihood that traits are pleiotropically linked. Thus, the traits most likely to be important in determining yield under droughted conditions can be identified. Examples are given of traits that could be incorporated into breeding programmes to improve drought resistance using techniques of marker-assisted selection.