Road to the Winner’s Circle: Documenting DNA

ROAD TO THE WINNER’S CIRCLE:

DOCUMENTING DNA

By Alana Skelton, RAAA DNA programs coordinator

Thank you for joining us for the DNA segment of this series. We all know DNA can be challenging, especially when you are on a tight timeline, so we hope this article offers clarity and guidance.

To start, I want to cover some major misconceptions we run into with some good, old-fashioned true or false. Who doesn’t love tests, right? (Insert eye rolls here.)

All sires and donors must have a DNA sample on file to register progeny and for progeny to not go on hold as Z status. True. Since the 2017 calf crop, all sires are required to have a DNA sample on file.

You bought a bull so it must have DNA on file? False. Just because you bought a bull or it’s been transferred to you does not mean it already has DNA on file. Keep reading to find out if your animal has DNA on file.

Other people have registered progeny from this dam or sire, so DNA must be “good to go.” False. We monitor defects solely on the mating of the animal so while that sire might be compliant for a natural calf, they may not be compliant for AI calves. Another issue is the other member may be registering calves, but they are all going on Z status due to DNA noncompliance. Always, always, always double check!

Hopefully, you aced that test! If not, please reach out to our DNA team to ask questions and get more information so you can become the DNA whiz of your operation.

To find out if there is DNA on an animal you own, start by pulling up their pedigree in REDSPro through the “Animal Search” tab. Look in the middle of the page for “Genetic Detail Status, Parentage Test.” If you see “Not on File”, then the animal DOES NOT have DNA on file with us. If you see other verbiage such as: “Sire Qualified, Dam not on file”, then the animal DOES have DNA on file. You can also tell if the animal has a genomic test on file by moving your eyes to the right of the parentage results to “Genomic Data.” If “GGP” is listed, then the animal has been tested on a genomic panel.

Now, let’s move on to some other important areas: registering an animal and warnings. We have three DNA holds: Z, U and B, and each has its own impact on progeny or the individual animal. Z is a status where a required parent doesn’t have DNA on file, such as a donor dam or sire. If you get a Z status warning, you’ll need to submit a DNA sample on the required parent of the animal. U status means there is a defect issue in the pedigree and typically either the calf or a parent needs testing. I always recommend double checking the mating of that animal to make sure it is correct. After that, we can establish why and what defect your animal is on hold for. To explain this a little more, here are the shortened differences for natural, AI and ET calves. In natural calves, we will look for a defect carrier on both sides of the pedigree only going back two generations. For AI calves, we will look all the way back on the sire’s side and two generations on the dam. Last but not least, on ET calves we look all the way back on both sides. Next is B status, which means there is a discrepancy in the pedigree, and we need to resolve it quickly. The most common “B” cases are when an animal excludes (does not match) to either the sire and/or the dam. To resolve this exclusion, you will need to email the DNA department with alternative sire and/or dam options for your animal. Now, this is an excellent time to take some notes. If the animal you are trying to register a calf from is currently on Z, B or U, the system will not let you register anything to the animal until the hold status is resolved.

Now that we have a solid base to work on, let’s move on to your timeline for DNA. This will be brief so if you have specific questions, please don’t hesitate to call or email us for more details.

It’s important to note components of the timeline can be sped up and others cannot. For example, you can speed up the time it takes your package to get to RAAA by using expedited shipping. On the other hand, you cannot speed up the chemical process at the lab. If you are a math whiz, you can see this timeline can take up to two months from requesting kits to all of the enhanced EPDs in the system. So plan ahead!

Let’s talk a little bit about results before you go. When you receive your results, please review them and read through your results key. Major things to look out for include exclusions in your animal’s pedigree. If you test a sire/dam and it comes back as a carrier (noted as C, example OSC,) you will need to test all resulting progeny until you have a free animal. If you need a certificate printed, please contact the Registration Department to get that issued to you once DNA loads and your animal(s) comes off hold.

Whew, that was a lot of information! We hope this clears things up for you and helps your next show season take you to the Grand Drive! B&B

This is an optimal timeline, but processing may vary due to season. It never hurts to add extra time for processing.