Present status of the conservation of livestock genetic resources in Brazil (original) (raw)

Animal genetic resources in Brazil: result of five centuries of natural selection

Theriogenology, 2002

Brazil has various species of domestic animals, which developed from breeds brought by the Portuguese settlers soon after their discovery. For five centuries, these breeds have been subjected to natural selection in specific environments. Today, they present characteristics adapted to the specific Brazilian environmental conditions. These breeds developed in Brazil are known as "Crioulo," "local," or naturalized. From the beginning of the 20th century, some exotic breeds, selected in temperate regions, have begun to be imported. Although more productive, these breeds do not have adaptive traits, such as resistance to disease and parasites found in breeds considered to be "native." Even so, little by little, they replaced the native breeds, to such an extent that the latter are in danger of extinction. In 1983, to avoid the loss of this important genetic material, the National Research Center for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (Cenargen) of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) decided to include conservation of animal genetic resources in its research program Conservation and Utilization of Genetic Resources. Until this time, they were only concerned with conservation of native plants. Conservation has been carried out by various research centers of Embrapa, universities, state research corporations, and private farmers, with a single coordinator at the national level, Cenargen. Specifically, conservation is being carried out by conservation nuclei, which are specific herds in which the animals are being conserved, situated in the habitats where the animals have been subjected to natural selection. This involves storage of semen and embryos from cattle, horses, buffaloes, donkeys, goats, sheep, and pigs. The Brazilian Animal Germplasm Bank is kept at Cenargen, which is responsible for the storage of semen and embryos of various breeds of domestic animals threatened with extinction, where almost 45,000 doses of semen and more than 200 embryos exist presently. An important challenge for this program is to make the different segments of society realize the importance of the conservation of animal genetic resources.

Breeding management and assessment of Curraleiro cattle in Northeastern Brazil

Animal Genetic Resources/Ressources génétiques animales/Recursos genéticos animales, 2013

The Curraleiro, also called Pé-Duro, is the only naturalized bovine breed of Northeastern Brazil. The breed originated via admixture of different Iberian breeds that were introduced during the sixteenth century and the subsequent natural adaptations to the semi-arid environment. The introduction of zebu bovine breeds during the twentieth century led to the replacement of the Curraleiro, which is now on the brink of extinction. With the aim of supporting the establishment of a conservation programme, the present study focused on assessing the management of the existing Curraleiro populations. Data on 2 366 head of cattle were obtained by interviewing 22 owners of Curraleiro herds. The number of animals in the herds varied from 4 to 384. The average herd size was 131.4 (standard deviation = 120.3). All animals were bred under extensive conditions, without any supplementary feed, and in 50 percent of all cases without any specialized technical assistance. Data indicated that breeders maintain the cattle not for economic reasons, but because of tradition. The Curraleiro was characterized by the breeders as being resistant to water stress and parasites. The animals can be bred without feed supplements on all kinds of native-grass pastures. These characteristics, in addition to its low production costs, could make the Curraleiro attractive, especially for low-income families.

The first Brazilian bovine breed: structure and genetic diversity of the Curraleiro Pé-duro

PeerJ

Background The production of animal-based foods from native breeds have a synergistic relationship with the regional culture, the local climate, and mainly the maintenance of alternative genetic resources for a system with a lower environmental impact. Thus the efficiency of conservation and production depends on assessing the variability of these local breeds. In the case of Curraleiro Pé-duro cattle, the most adapted individuals have undergone natural selection over five hundred years in the Brazilian savannas, mating with little or no human interference. The peculiarities of these biomes, where the regional flora is the food base and cattle is raised in extensive areas, likely influenced the genetic composition of the different groups that make up the first cattle breed of Brazil. Methods To evaluate the composition, diversity, variation, differentiation, and genetic structure of the populations studied, samples of hair follicles from 474 individuals of different animal categorie...

Census of Brazilian naturalized swine breeds

Con el fin de conocer las razas/tipos de cerdos naturalizados encontrados en el Distrito Federal (DF, Góias Brasil), la Embrapa Recursos Genéticos y Biotecnología y la EmaterDF firmaron en 1999 un convenio de cooperación con el objetivo de realizar un censo poblacional de cerdos en la zona del DF, y sensibilizar a técnicos y productores rurales sobre la importancia de la conservación de las mismas. Fueron distribuidas 44 encuestas en 26 propiedades, donde se identificaron 253 animales. El tipo más frecuente fue Piau (n=119), seguido de Nilo (n=85), en menor número fueron encontrados el Pirapetinga (n=15) y el Caruncho (n=12). Fue observado un tipo conocido como Cuié (n=10) de piel negra, cerdas escasas y orejas muy pequeñas en forma de cuchara, y otro tipo de porte pequeño, patas cortas, localmente conocido como Bassê (n=12). Los resultados obtenidos desencadenaron acciones frente a los ganaderos. Está siendo creado un archivo de aquéllos sensibilizados con la conservación de cerdos...

Variabilidade genética de raças de ovelhas deslanadas do Brasil

Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira

The objectives of this work were to investigate the genetic structure of the Brazilian hair sheep breeds and to determine the origin of the Santa Inês breed. Molecular similarity was determined using Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA -Polymerase Chain Reaction markers in 238 individuals from five naturalized sheep breeds: Santa Inês (48 animals), Rabo Largo , Somali (48), Morada Nova and Bergamasca , collected in Goiás, Sergipe, Bahia, and Ceará States as well as in the Federal District. Fifty-four loci were selected from 19 primers, after a pilot test using 140 primers. Qualitative analyses indicate diagnostic markers for all breeds. All breeds were significantly different from each other. Interbreed differences were explained by 14.92% of the total variation. Santa Inês clustered with Bergamasca (97% bootstrap) and with Rabo Largo, composing the third member of the group (81% bootstrap) while Morada Nova and Somali breeds clustered separately. Each breed should be considered as a separate management and conservation unit, and special care should be taken with Rabo Largo, Morada Nova and Somali breeds, represented by small herds in Brazil.

Naturalized Breeds in Brazil: Reports on the Origin and Genetic Diversity of the Pantaneiro Sheep

Livestock Science, 2017

Brazil has several breeds of sheep, including animals that developed from breeds brought by settlers soon after their discovery. Over the years, these animals were under the process of natural selection, resulting in breeds that are considered naturalized. The Pantaneiro sheep shows rusticity and ability of adaptation to tropical climate regions and tolerance or resistance to disease and parasites. Molecular tools have marked the discovery of the origin and domestication processes of a wide variety of species, using both nuclear and mitochondrial molecular markers. These tools have aided in the understanding of evolutionary relationships, taxonomies, and demographics of various species and provided support to identify the most important areas for conservation programs, in addition to assisting in the analysis of genetic diversity in domestic, wildlife and endangered species. Researches using these tools show the importance of exploiting the potential of the genetic diversity found in locally adapted livestock. So far, a few studies were performed to observe that Pantaneiro sheep served as maternal basis for the origin of other breeds reared. Moreover, it is possible to suggest an European origin for the sheep populations studied; therefore, more studies using more markers are needed, so that it is possible to prove their origin.