APPLICATION OF RANDOM REGRESSION MODELS FOR GROWTH TRAITS OF NELLORE CATTLE IN BRAZIL

Abstract

The purpose of this review is to show the increase in number of researches on covariance components and genetic evaluation using random regression models (RRM) for growth traits of Nellore cattle. Random regression models, also known as infinite-dimension models have been used to estimate variance components and genetic parameters for weight of beef cattle. In addition, those models are a standard alternative for genetic analyses of longitudinal data, however, the availibility of computational resources for performing genetic evaluations widely is an obstacle. Traits related to animal growth are adopted as selection criteria in beef cattle breeding programs, because the remuneration of cattle breeders is made based on the weight of carcasses. In recent years, RRM have been adopted as standard procedure in relation to the analysis of longitudinal data in animal breeding.