# Presentation: 392111

## Performance ofHolstein clones inthe United States

**H.D. NORMAN,*********,1**** T.J. LAWLOR,****2**** and J.R. WRIGHT****1**
**1****Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory**
** **** ****Agricultural Research Service, USDA**
** **** ****Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA**
**2****Holstein Association USA, Brattleboro, VT 05302, USA**
*******dnorman@aipl.arsusda.gov**** ******** 301-504-8334  **

**Photo courtesy Infigen**

## National Research Council (USA)

**Subcommittee to identify and to prioritize science-based risks of genetically modified animals**
**Report will decide regulation of cloned animals by U.S. Food and Drug Administration**

## Cloning technology

**Embryo splitting**
**First U.S. registered Holstein calves: ****1982**
**Identical nuclear and mitochondrial DNA**
**Nuclear transfer**
**First U.S. registered Holstein calves: ****1989**
**Nearly identical nuclear DNA, but different mitochondrial DNA**
**Almost no recording of recipient cell identity**
**Full siblings versus identical animals**

## Objectives

**Document performance of clones:**
**Yield:  ****milk, fat, protein**
**Fitness:  ****somatic cell score (SCS), productive life (PL)**
**Examine performance differences between embryo-split and nuclear-transfer clones**

## Data

**Holstein Association USA registrations for embryo-split and nuclear-transfer clones**
**Gender**
**Birth year**
**Pedigree merit**
**Mean of parent predicted transmitting abilities (PTAs)**
**Clone type (embryo split vs. nuclear transfer)**
**All U.S. Holsteins born in same year and milk recorded through Dairy Herd Improvement**

## Embryo-split clone population

## Nuclear-transfer clone population

## Female pedigree merit: Milk

| Birth year | Mean of parent PTAs (kg) |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | Embryo split | Nuclear transfer | Population |
| 1983 | -487 | . . . | -645 |
| 1985 | -283 | . . . | -554 |
| 1987 | -322 | . . . | -459 |
| 1989 | -211 | -113 | -344 |
| 1991 | -33 | +46 | -233 |
| 1993 | +88 | -29 | -114 |
| 1995 | +146 | . . . | 0 |
| 1997 | +342 | . . . | +122 |
| 1999 | +432 | +645 | +206 |

## Female pedigree merit: Fat

| Birth year | Mean of parent PTAs (kg) |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | Embryo split | Nuclear transfer | Population |
| 1983 | -15 | . . . | -22 |
| 1985 | -10 | . . . | -19 |
| 1987 | -9 | . . . | -15 |
| 1989 | -2 | -3 | -10 |
| 1991 | +1 | +3 | -7 |
| 1993 | +4 | +4 | -4 |
| 1995 | +6 | . . . | 0 |
| 1997 | +10 | . . . | +4 |
| 1999 | +12 | +12 | +6 |

## Female pedigree merit: Protein

| Birth year | Mean of parent PTAs (kg) |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | Embryo split | Nuclear transfer | Population |
| 1983 | -13 | . . . | -18 |
| 1985 | -10 | . . . | -16 |
| 1987 | -10 | . . . | -14 |
| 1989 | -5 | -2 | -10 |
| 1991 | 0 | +2 | -7 |
| 1993 | +5 | +1 | -3 |
| 1995 | +5 | . . . | 0 |
| 1997 | +13 | . . . | +4 |
| 1999 | +15 | +23 | +7 |

## Mean standardized traits

|  | Embryo splitting |  |  | Nuclear transfer |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Trait | Clones | Full sibs |  | Clones | Full sibs |
| Milk (kg) | 10,577 | 10,850 |  | 10,197 | 10,052 |
| Fat (kg) | 386 | 394 |  | 367 | 368 |
| Fat (%) | 3.66 | 3.62 |  | 3.61 | 3.66 |
| Protein (kg) | 315 | 324 |  | 317 | 306 |
| Protein (%) | 2.98 | 2.98 |  | 3.12 | 3.03 |
| SCS | 3.0 | 3.1 |  | 3.7 | 3.1 |
| PL (mo) | 25.6 | 25.3 |  | 21.4 | 30.3 |

## Deviation from contemporaries

|  | Embryo splitting |  |  | Nuclear transfer |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Trait | Clones | Full sibs |  | Clones | Full sibs |
| Milk (kg) | -273 | -93 |  | -525 | -519 |
| Fat (kg) | -5 | -1 |  | -24 | -15 |
| Protein (kg) | -5 | 0 |  | -8 | -11 |

## Mean PTA

|  | Embryo splitting |  |  | Nuclear transfer |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Trait | Clones | Full sibs |  | Clones | Full sibs |
| Milk (kg) | -67 | -34 |  | -105 | -63 |
| Fat (kg) | 0 | 0 |  | -5 | 0 |
| Fat (%) | 0.02 | 0.02 |  | -0.01 | 0.02 |
| Protein (kg) | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 |
| Protein (%) | 0.01 | 0.01 |  | 0.03 | 0.02 |
| SCS | 3.09 | 3.09 |  | 3.16 | 3.14 |
| PL (mo) | 0.1 | 0.2 |  | -0.4 | -0.1 |

## Famous split-embryo bulls

| Bull | Daugh-ters (no.) | PTA |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  | Milk
(kg) | Fat
(kg) | Pro-tein
(kg) | Produc-tive life
(mo) | Somatic
cell
score |
| Duplicate | 	477 | +156 | 	-19 | 	-7 | -0.8 | 3.28 |
| Divide | 	606 | +143 | 	-18 | 	-7 | -0.7 | 3.26 |
| Wind Kaddy | 	5032 | +347 | 	+13 | 	+10 | -1.1 | 3.55 |
| SW Kaddy | 	506 | +261 | 	+14 | 	+8 | -1.1 | 3.48 |

## Decreased number of embryo-split males and all nuclear-transfer clones
Animals selected for cloning slightly superior genetically to population for yield traits
Yields similar for nuclear-transfer clones and their non-cloned full siblings 
Yields of embryo-split clones slightly less than yields of their non-cloned full siblings

**Animals selected for cloning slightly superior genetically to population for yield traits**
**Yields similar for nuclear-transfer clones and their non-cloned full siblings **
**Yields of embryo-split clones slightly less than yields of their non-cloned full siblings**

**Conclusions**