title: Genetic tools to improve reproduction traits in dairy cattle.
abstract: Fertility is a major concern in the dairy cattle industry and has been the subject of numerous studies over the past 20 years. Surprisingly, most of these studies focused on rough female phenotypes and, despite their important role in reproductive success, male- and embryo-related traits have been poorly investigated. In recent years, the rapid and important evolution of technologies in genetic research has led to the development of genomic selection. The generalisation of this method in combination with the achievements of the AI industry have led to the constitution of large databases of genotyping and sequencing data, as well as refined phenotypes and pedigree records. These resources offer unprecedented opportunities in terms of fundamental and applied research. Here we present five such examples with a focus on reproduction-related traits: (1) detection of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for male fertility and semen quality traits; (2) detection of QTL for refined phenotypes associated with female fertility; (3) identification of recessive embryonic lethal mutations by depletion of homozygous haplotypes; (4) identification of recessive embryonic lethal mutations by mining whole-genome sequencing data; and (5) the contribution of high-density single nucleotide polymorphism chips, whole-genome sequencing and imputation to increasing the power of QTL detection methods and to the identification of causal variants.
authors.affiliation: UNCEIA (Union Nationale des Coopératives d'Elevage et d'Insémination Animale), 149 rue de Bercy, 75012 Paris, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Capitan
authors.affiliation: UNCEIA (Union Nationale des Coopératives d'Elevage et d'Insémination Animale), 149 rue de Bercy, 75012 Paris, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Michot
authors.affiliation: UNCEIA (Union Nationale des Coopératives d'Elevage et d'Insémination Animale), 149 rue de Bercy, 75012 Paris, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baur
authors.affiliation: UNCEIA (Union Nationale des Coopératives d'Elevage et d'Insémination Animale), 149 rue de Bercy, 75012 Paris, France.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saintilan
authors.affiliation: UNCEIA (Union Nationale des Coopératives d'Elevage et d'Insémination Animale), 149 rue de Bercy, 75012 Paris, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hozé
authors.affiliation: UNCEIA (Union Nationale des Coopératives d'Elevage et d'Insémination Animale), 149 rue de Bercy, 75012 Paris, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Valour
authors.affiliation: EVOLUTION, 69 rue de la Motte Brûlon, 35706 Rennes, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guillaume
authors.affiliation: MIDATEST, Les Nauzes, 81580 Soual, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boichon
authors.affiliation: INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique), UMR1313 Génétique Animale et Biologie Intégrative, Domaine de Vilvert, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barbat
authors.affiliation: INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique), UMR1313 Génétique Animale et Biologie Intégrative, Domaine de Vilvert, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boichard
authors.affiliation: UNCEIA (Union Nationale des Coopératives d'Elevage et d'Insémination Animale), 149 rue de Bercy, 75012 Paris, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schibler
authors.affiliation: UNCEIA (Union Nationale des Coopératives d'Elevage et d'Insémination Animale), 149 rue de Bercy, 75012 Paris, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fritz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding / Q000379:methods*; D002417:Cattle / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000662:veterinary*; D055101:Semen Analysis / Q000662:veterinary