As a small beef producer 50 angus and 50 poll herefords is this a serious problem. Please comment on below article, sorry if its old news to you all but its not here in Aust
Thousands carry Angus gene defect
GEMMA GADD
24/10/2008 1:59:00 PM
About 60 of the most popular Australian bred Angus AI sires will be DNA tested in the USA in the coming weeks following the discovery of a lethal heritable genetic defect in the American and Australian Angus herds.
The move comes after pedigree analysis conducted by NSW Department of Primary Industries veterinarian, Dr Lawrence Denholm, has shown that CA Future Direction 5321 - the most popular son of GAR Precision 1680, a known carrier of the recessive gene for Curly Calf Syndrome (CCS) – is also a carrier.
The discovery means that 50pc of the 10,000 Future Direction progeny registered in Australia over the past eight years are likely to be carriers of the defective gene.
GAR Precision also has several hundred progeny in Australia and many other US-bred sons in recent and current semen catalogues.
The NSW DPI estimates there are several hundred thousand registered and commercial cattle in Australia that are potential carriers of the defect which can result in stillborn and malformed calves.
Dr Jon Beever, University of Illinois, US, will test samples from about 60 of the most popular Australian bred Angus bulls that have Precision 1680 in their pedigrees once the development of a DNA test has been completed.
The semen samples have been sent by Angus Australian in conjunction will Dr Denholm and results are expected within a few months.
Angus Australia breed development and information manager, Carel Teseling, will travel to the US at the beginning of December and says negotiating access to the DNA test is "high on the priority list".
"Angus Australia will be proactive in gaining access to this test within a reasonable time frame and at a reasonable price; this will help members manage the defect effectively," Mr Teseling said.
Rather than eliminate the defect from the population, Mr Teseling believes such a DNA test should be used as a "management tool".
"The Angus Society has not shied away from eradicating mannosidosis from population in the '60s when a DNA test was not available," he said.
"When a DNA test is available we will not need to eradicate Curly Calf Syndrome but rather manage it."
Dr Denholm has also investigated pedigrees from several CCS cases in Australia and Missouri, US, where the pedigrees trace back to the maternal grandsire of Precision 1680, Rito 9J9 B156 7T26, but not Precision himself.
"It now appears that this defective gene is more widely distributed in the Angus population than just in the progeny of Precision 1680," Dr Denholm said.
"Most top carcase bulls have Rito 9J9 bloodlines mainly through Precision 1680; the reality is that about 50pc of the sons and daughters of Precision and Future Direction will be carriers of this gene," Dr Denholm said.
"DNA testing will divide the 60 Australian Angus bulls into carriers and non carriers and all other untested bulls with Precision in their pedigrees will remain suspect for the time being.
"The results from those 60 bulls will provide an incredible amount of information for Angus breeders," he said.
Hundreds of Canadian bred Angus bulls would be tested over the same period, he said.
While a CCS affected calf can only occur when a carrier is mated to a carrier - and even then there is only a 25pc chance calves will be born with the lethal defect -
Mr Denholm believes this will be strong disincentive for commercial producers to use any bulls that are proven carriers or even suspect.
Instead of banning the registration of carrier animals, he favours a system where carriers, particularly females, can still be registered by the breeder but not transferred as a non carrier would be.
"Firstly, Angus breeders need a system where there are disincentives for people to sell carriers into the commercial world and secondly we need to have incentives for people to test and resolve the status of suspect animals quickly."
The worst situation would be to have rules that discourage people from testing and therefore encourage a higher level of risk of spreading the defect through the population, he said.
"The last thing we want is to have large numbers of seedstock breeding animals in the population with unresolved status – the more we can do to resolve their status the better. As soon as you can determine status, common sense and market forces will take hold."
Dr Denholm believes a public register of carriers of carriers would allow breeders to salvage the genetic merit of such animals through selling progeny that are tested and proven to be clean.
In contrast, the American Angus Association, in its outlined plan for registering known carriers, states that calves born after January 1, 2010 from carrier females and bulls must be DNA tested and found to be free of the gene to be eligible for registration.
AAA's stance means the American market will effectively close to semen from Australian carrier bulls and Mr Denholm suggested it is unlikely carrier bulls will have any significant commercial value in the semen industry even in Australia.
The Australian Angus Society board will discuss rules governing the registration of CCS carriers at the next board meeting in November but will not be forming a position on the matter until all the facts are known and understood, Angus Australia president, John Young, said.
"The cheapest and best option is always to act early…as test results become available the members will be informed of those bulls that are or are not carriers and let the market work around that," he said.
"This is not a widespread problem at all and there are a lot of good bulls that can still be used with dams that do not have the bloodlines."
Stock & Land
Source: http://www.stockandland.com
Thousands carry Angus gene defect
GEMMA GADD
24/10/2008 1:59:00 PM
About 60 of the most popular Australian bred Angus AI sires will be DNA tested in the USA in the coming weeks following the discovery of a lethal heritable genetic defect in the American and Australian Angus herds.
The move comes after pedigree analysis conducted by NSW Department of Primary Industries veterinarian, Dr Lawrence Denholm, has shown that CA Future Direction 5321 - the most popular son of GAR Precision 1680, a known carrier of the recessive gene for Curly Calf Syndrome (CCS) – is also a carrier.
The discovery means that 50pc of the 10,000 Future Direction progeny registered in Australia over the past eight years are likely to be carriers of the defective gene.
GAR Precision also has several hundred progeny in Australia and many other US-bred sons in recent and current semen catalogues.
The NSW DPI estimates there are several hundred thousand registered and commercial cattle in Australia that are potential carriers of the defect which can result in stillborn and malformed calves.
Dr Jon Beever, University of Illinois, US, will test samples from about 60 of the most popular Australian bred Angus bulls that have Precision 1680 in their pedigrees once the development of a DNA test has been completed.
The semen samples have been sent by Angus Australian in conjunction will Dr Denholm and results are expected within a few months.
Angus Australia breed development and information manager, Carel Teseling, will travel to the US at the beginning of December and says negotiating access to the DNA test is "high on the priority list".
"Angus Australia will be proactive in gaining access to this test within a reasonable time frame and at a reasonable price; this will help members manage the defect effectively," Mr Teseling said.
Rather than eliminate the defect from the population, Mr Teseling believes such a DNA test should be used as a "management tool".
"The Angus Society has not shied away from eradicating mannosidosis from population in the '60s when a DNA test was not available," he said.
"When a DNA test is available we will not need to eradicate Curly Calf Syndrome but rather manage it."
Dr Denholm has also investigated pedigrees from several CCS cases in Australia and Missouri, US, where the pedigrees trace back to the maternal grandsire of Precision 1680, Rito 9J9 B156 7T26, but not Precision himself.
"It now appears that this defective gene is more widely distributed in the Angus population than just in the progeny of Precision 1680," Dr Denholm said.
"Most top carcase bulls have Rito 9J9 bloodlines mainly through Precision 1680; the reality is that about 50pc of the sons and daughters of Precision and Future Direction will be carriers of this gene," Dr Denholm said.
"DNA testing will divide the 60 Australian Angus bulls into carriers and non carriers and all other untested bulls with Precision in their pedigrees will remain suspect for the time being.
"The results from those 60 bulls will provide an incredible amount of information for Angus breeders," he said.
Hundreds of Canadian bred Angus bulls would be tested over the same period, he said.
While a CCS affected calf can only occur when a carrier is mated to a carrier - and even then there is only a 25pc chance calves will be born with the lethal defect -
Mr Denholm believes this will be strong disincentive for commercial producers to use any bulls that are proven carriers or even suspect.
Instead of banning the registration of carrier animals, he favours a system where carriers, particularly females, can still be registered by the breeder but not transferred as a non carrier would be.
"Firstly, Angus breeders need a system where there are disincentives for people to sell carriers into the commercial world and secondly we need to have incentives for people to test and resolve the status of suspect animals quickly."
The worst situation would be to have rules that discourage people from testing and therefore encourage a higher level of risk of spreading the defect through the population, he said.
"The last thing we want is to have large numbers of seedstock breeding animals in the population with unresolved status – the more we can do to resolve their status the better. As soon as you can determine status, common sense and market forces will take hold."
Dr Denholm believes a public register of carriers of carriers would allow breeders to salvage the genetic merit of such animals through selling progeny that are tested and proven to be clean.
In contrast, the American Angus Association, in its outlined plan for registering known carriers, states that calves born after January 1, 2010 from carrier females and bulls must be DNA tested and found to be free of the gene to be eligible for registration.
AAA's stance means the American market will effectively close to semen from Australian carrier bulls and Mr Denholm suggested it is unlikely carrier bulls will have any significant commercial value in the semen industry even in Australia.
The Australian Angus Society board will discuss rules governing the registration of CCS carriers at the next board meeting in November but will not be forming a position on the matter until all the facts are known and understood, Angus Australia president, John Young, said.
"The cheapest and best option is always to act early…as test results become available the members will be informed of those bulls that are or are not carriers and let the market work around that," he said.
"This is not a widespread problem at all and there are a lot of good bulls that can still be used with dams that do not have the bloodlines."
Stock & Land
Source: http://www.stockandland.com
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