Uncovering genetic parameters and environmental influences on fertility, milk production, and quality in autochthonous Reggiana cattle

Abstract

Reggiana is a local cattle breed from northern Italy known for its rusticity and profitability, due to the production of branded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. To ensure the persistence of such profitability in the long term, an adequate breeding program is required. To this aim, in the present study we estimate the genetic parameters of the main productive and reproductive traits, and we evaluate the effect of genotype by environment interaction (GxE) on these traits using 2 environmental covariates: (1) productivity and (2) temperature-humidity index (THI). Milk, fat, protein, and casein yield were considered as daily production traits, whereas protein, fat, casein percentage, casein index, and somatic cell score were considered as milk quality traits. Finally, reproductive traits such as the number of inseminations, days open, calving interval, and calving-to-first-insemination interval were evaluated. Reggiana cattle produce an average of 19 kg of milk per day with 3.7% fat and 3.4% protein content and have excellent fertility parameters. Compared with other breeds, they have slightly lower heritability for production and quality for production traits (e.g., 0.12 [0.09; 0.15] for milk yield), but similar heritability for fertility traits. Milk, protein, and fat daily yields are highly correlated but negatively correlated with the percentage of protein, fat, and casein, whereas fertility traits have an unfavorable genetic correlation with daily production traits. When considering productivity, a consistent amount of variability due to GxE was observed for all daily production traits, somatic cell count, and casein index. A modest amount of GxE was observed for fertility parameters, while the percentage of solid content showed almost no GxE effect. A similar situation occurred when considering the THI, but no GxE interaction was observed for reproduction traits. In conclusion, this study provides useful information for the implementation of accurate selection plans in this local breed, accounting for environmental plasticity measured through the consistent GxE interaction observed.