DIRECT, MATERNAL AND CYTOPLASMIC GENETIC EFFECTS ON DAILY GAIN FROM BIRTH TO 45 DAYS OF BEEF CALVES

Variance components were estimated for calf daily gain from birth to 45 days of age in small (S), medium (M) and large (L) lines of beef cattle. Analyses involved records collected on 682 (S), 510 (M) and 228 (L) calves in Iowa, USA from 1978 to 1986. Cytoplasmic lines were determined based on the foundation female in the maternal lineage of each animal. Data were analyzed separately by size line using a derivative-free restricted maximum likelihood procedure under an animal model including additive direct (a), additive maternal (m), cytoplasmic lineage effects and covariance (a, m). The heritabilities for direct and maternal, and the cytoplasmic effects, were 0.13, 0.35 and 0.00 for S, 0.14, 0.32 and 0.00 for M, and 0.05, 0.33 and 0.03 for L. Genetic correlations (a, m) for S, M and L were -0.33, -0.57 and -1.00, respectively. The maternal genetic effect was the most important for calf growth between birth and 45 dyas of age and cytoplasmic variances were not important in any line.