Optimisation of selection for methane mitigation by integrating production traits with ruminal microbiome-driven breeding in beef cattle

Breeding for reduced methane production is challenged by the high cost associated with its continuous measurements on individual animals. To address this, a microbiome-driven breeding methodology was developed and investigated to identify the most informative microbial genes (MGs) related to methane production. The analyses considered different genomic selection scenarios based on data from beef cattle: (i) with and without inclusion of production traits such as daily feed intake, average daily gain (ADG), cold carcass weight (CCW); (ii) different sets of MGs were evaluated - those most informative to predict the host genetics of methane production, with and without restriction of showing favourable genetic correlation with ADG.