Genetic aspects of meat quality, efficiency, and sustainability in Nelore cattle
This project aims to create a database of enteric methane emissions and utilize a dataset of feed efficiency, carcass quality, and reproductive traits to conduct whole-genome sequencing studies. The objectives are to: a) conduct quantitative genetic studies of traits related to enteric methane emissions and their genetic associations with feed efficiency traits; b) evaluate the accuracy of imputation to whole-genome sequence from animals genotyped with commercial chips with different numbers of SNPs and using different methods; c) characterize the Nelore genome using sequencing data; d) perform genome-wide association studies for economically important traits using whole-genome sequence data, along with fine-mapping of candidate genes to identify causal mutations and deleterious variants; e) conduct genomic selection studies based on sequencing data for traits related to meat quality, efficiency, and sustainability; and f) analyze gene expression (transcriptome) of traits related to feed efficiency.