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About the Authors:
Laercio R. Porto-Neto
Affiliations CSIRO Food Futures Flagship, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia, CSIRO Animal, Food and Health Science, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
Antonio Reverter
Affiliations CSIRO Food Futures Flagship, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia, CSIRO Animal, Food and Health Science, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
Kishore C. Prayaga
Affiliation: Zoetis Incorporated, Parkville, VIC, Australia
Eva K. F. Chan
Affiliation: Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW, Australia
David J. Johnston
Affiliation: Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia
Rachel J. Hawken
Affiliation: Cobb-Vantress Inc., Siloam Springs, Arizona, United States of America
Geoffry Fordyce
Affiliation: Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
Jose Fernando Garcia
Affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinaria de Araçatuba, (UNESP) Univ Estadual Paulista, Araçatuba, São Paulo, Brazil
Tad S. Sonstegard
Affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Bovine Functional Genomics Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, United States of America
Sunduimijid Bolormaa
Affiliation: Department of Primary Industries Victoria, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
Michael E. Goddard
Affiliation: Department of Primary Industries Victoria, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
Heather M. Burrow
Affiliation: CSIRO Animal, Food and Health Science, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
John M. Henshall
Affiliations CSIRO Food Futures Flagship, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia, CSIRO Animal, Food and Health Science, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
Sigrid A. Lehnert
Affiliations CSIRO Food Futures Flagship, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia, CSIRO Animal, Food and Health Science, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
William Barendse
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: CSIRO Animal, Food and Health Science, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
Introduction
Cattle are a key component of tropical rural sustainability, wealth, and food production for small holder farms, which are vital for global food security [1], [2]. Tropically adapted cattle breeds, usually of indicine ancestry, are less productive than European taurine cattle under favourable conditions [3], [4]. However, they are easier to maintain under conditions of low inputs, and remain productive under the onslaught of parasites, tropical diseases and high heat loads [5], [6], [7]. Nevertheless, lower innate productivity is a serious limitation to sustainable intensification of cattle productivity in the tropics.