http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-02/pu-sfm021207.php >Public release date: 12-Feb-2007 > >Contact: Susan A. Steeves >[log in to unmask] >765-496-7481 >Purdue University >Scientists find method to pick noncompetitive animals, improve >production > > >WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A new statistical method of determining genetic >traits that influence social interactions among animals may provide for >more productive livestock. > >Scientists from Purdue University, the Netherlands and England >designed mathematical equations based on traits to choose animals that >are more congenial in groups, said William Muir, a Purdue Department >of Animal Sciences geneticist. The new method is a tool that may >contribute both to animal well-being and to securing the world's >future food supply, including possibly permitting more animals to >be domesticated, Muir said. > >The tool makes it possible to design selective breeding programs to >effectively reduce competitive interactions in livestock, he said. >The method also aids in predicting how social interactions impact >the natural evolution of species. > >Muir and his colleagues write about the tool and its effectiveness in >two papers published in the current issue of the journal Genetics. The >journal's cover highlights the work with a photograph that Muir took >of various colorful fish species interacting in a simulated ecosystem >at the Monterey, Calif., aquarium. > >"There is an inherited part of the associations among animals that has >profound effects on performance," Muir said. "It's called competition. >Animals compete for food, space, territory and mates." > >In the first of the two papers, Muir and his colleagues explain the >tool they developed to determine inherited traits that contribute to >interactions among both individual animals and groups. The second >paper refines the methodology and validates it by applying the tool >to a flock of chickens. > >In previous research, Muir showed that choosing less aggressive >animals from a group for breeding purposes increases productivity. In >the latest research, the scientists show that aggressiveness and all >other traits affecting social interactions are inherited and can be >estimated. They also found that by using the new tool they were able >to confirm two-thirds more inherited trait variations that impact >social interactions than could be identified with classical selection >analysis. > >"Now we have a tool to explain how species in nature evolved in >response to each other," Muir said. "It can be applied across species >and can tell us how social interactions developed in the past and will >develop in the future between individuals and among various animal >species. > >"This is important because the most stable ecosystems are those that >have multiple species that cohabitate. Natural selection is nature's >way of keeping the ecosystem in balance." > >Muir previously proved that animals living in groups and bred to be >more passive sustain fewer injuries and are more productive than >animals bred naturally. For instance, chickens bred to be less >aggressive don't engage in as much pecking, which often causes severe >injury and even death. The energy that animals used for negative >behavior or to avoid such activities is then transferred to >production. > >"This selection methodology is a roadmap to improving the breeding of >domesticated animals," Muir said. "The tool also could allow us to >domesticate more species as readily available food sources, such as >cannibalistic shellfish and game fish." > >###The other researchers on these studies are Piter Bijma, Esther >Ellen and Johan Van Arendonk of Wageningen University, The >Netherlands, and Jason Wolf of the University of Manchester in >Manchester, England. > >This research is part of the regional project Advanced Technologies >for the Genetic Improvement of Poultry. > >Writer: Susan A. Steeves, (765) 496-7481, [log in to unmask] > >Source: William Muir, (765) 494-8032, [log in to unmask] >Related Web sites: >William Muir: http://www.ansc.purdue.edu/faculty/muir.htm >Genetics: http://www.genetics.org/future/175.1.shtml >Wageningen University: http://www.wau.wageningen-ur.nl/welcome.html >University of Manchester: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/ > >PHOTO CAPTION: >All plants and animals compete for limited resources such as food, >mates, sun and territory. William Muir, a Purdue geneticist, has found >a quantitative method of determining inherited traits that affect >social inactions. Using this information can help breed for less >aggressive animals that will be more productive. Muir is shown with >Shamu, a domesticated tilapia. (Purdue Agricultural Communication >photo/Tom Campbell) > >A publication-quality photo is available at > http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/+2007/muir-selection.jpg > >The abstracts on the research in this release are available at: > http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2007a/070212MuirSelection.html Sukie (not a vet) Current FHL address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth People can join there or can send a blank mail to the automated joining address: [log in to unmask] and then follow the directions. (The second is recommended for those having problems with Yahoogroups web settings, and afterward send a blank mail from your subscribed address to [log in to unmask] to get the digest instead of individual mails. ) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml [Posted in FML 5517]