ABSTRACT.- Eucalyptus is one of the mainstays of the forest industry, contributing high-quality raw materials for pulp, paper, wood, and energy production. The typical approaches to reveal the genetic basis of important traits include classical Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) mapping and Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) approaches, but these are typically expensive and time-consuming. Here we evaluate the potential of Extreme-Phenotype GWAS (XP-GWAS) to identify candidate genes underlying a quantitative trait in Eucalyptus, using the timing of leaf heteroblasty as a case study.

ABSTRACT.- Eucalyptus is one of the mainstays of the forest industry, contributing high-quality raw materials for pulp, paper, wood, and energy production. The typical approaches to reveal the genetic basis of important traits include classical Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) mapping and Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) approaches, but these are typically expensive and time-consuming. Here we evaluate the potential of Extreme-Phenotype GWAS (XP-GWAS) to identify candidate genes underlying a quantitative trait in Eucalyptus, using the timing of leaf heteroblasty as a case study.

ABSTRACT.- Eucalyptus species have a great capacity for regeneration after harvest, which allows a second rotation as a coppice crop. The decision whether to manage the next rotation as a coppice crop or to replant depends on the expected economic result of each alternative. The problem that foresters face is the difficulty of predicting the productivity in the next rotation, which will depend largely on the percentage of stumps that resprout.

Residual feed intake (RFI), the difference between actual and predicted dry matter (DM) intake, based on average daily gain (ADG) and metabolic body weight (BW0.75), is an interesting breeding objective because its positive impacts on production systems profitability, use of limited resources and environmental sustainability.

ABSTRACT.- Eucalyptus species are among the most planted trees in forestry production, an ever-increasing commercial activity worldwide. Forestry expansion demands a continuous search for preventive and sanitary measures against pests and diseases. Massive application of phytosanitary products is incompatible with the forestry sector, so forest health management must be based on other principles. In this context, studies on insect plant relationships mediated by plant metabolites may contribute information relevant to plant resistance and genotype selection.

ABSTRACT.- Previous studies on winter supplementation of growing cattle grazing stockpiled native Campos grasslands suggest that forage allowance (FA), herbage mass, and weather conditions before and during the supplementation period could all affect supplement feed efficiency (SFE)-that is, the difference or change in average daily gain (ADG) between supplemented (S) and control (C) animals (ADGchng, kg) per unit (kg) of supplement dry matter (DM) intake. In this study, we analyse data from fifteen collated winter supplementation trials carried out in Uruguay between 2004 and 2018.

Breeding sheep for increased feed efficiency (FE) and decreased methane emissions (ME) is an alternative for developing more sustainable sheep production systems. With the aim of generating genetic and genomic tools, we added in 2018 the evaluation of FE and greenhouse gases emissions to the usual phenotyping as part of the national genetic evaluation per breed, for wool, meat, growth, health and reproduction traits. This initiative provides the information to characterize FE and ME and estimate genetic parameters for Uruguayan sheep.

The anti-meat consumption trend is installed globally, where different organized and influencer collectives propose a transformation of agri-food systems and a diet practically free of red meat. The narrative is mainly based on the negative effects of meat consumption on human health, the environment, and cruelty to animals. However, evidence based on scientific information is counteracting these visions. At least 500 million people around the world are totally dependent on livestock for their livelihood and food security.