Understanding the genetic architecture of dairy cattle health using whole genome re-sequencing data

奶牛对某些健康问题的易感性，例如乳房炎(乳房组织的一种痛苦的炎症)、约翰氏病(慢性的、有时是致命的肠道感染)、代谢性疾病(移位的皱胃、临床酮症、乳房热等)。以及生育障碍(胎盘滞留、子宫炎、囊性卵巢等)在自然界中部分是遗传的。在加拿大，这些健康问题在哺乳期奶牛中的流行率很高：20%-40%患有一种或多种此类疾病。加拿大有100万头奶牛，全球有2.7亿头奶牛，健康特征的基因改良可能会对大量动物产生积极影响。利用遗传改良来改善健康特征的好处是多方面的：奶牛通过延长预期寿命/生活质量受益；农民通过增加牛奶产量、降低兽医成本和降低淘汰率受益；消费者通过高质量的奶制品受益；环境中的抗生素数量减少。

Susceptibility of dairy cattle to certain health problems, such as mastitis (a painful inflammation of udder tissue), Johne’s disease (chronic, sometimes fatal infection of the intestine), metabolic diseases (displaced abomasum, clinical ketosis, milk fever, etc.) and fertility disorders (retained placenta, metritis, cystic ovaries, etc.) is partially genetic in nature. In Canada, the prevalence of these health problems in lactating dairy cows is substantial: 20-40% have one or more of these disorders. With a Canadian dairy population of 1 million cows and a global dairy population of 270 million cows, genetic improvement of health traits could positively impact a huge number of animals. The advantages of using genetic improvement to improve health traits are manifold: cows benefit through increased life expectancy / quality of life; farmers benefit through increased milk production, reduced veterinary costs, and decreased culling rate; consumers benefit through high-quality milk products; and the amount of antibiotics in the environment is reduced.