Estimation of Genetic Variance Components of Body Size Measurements in Hanwoo (Korean Cattle) Using a Multivariate Linear Model

The objectives of this study were to quantify the combination values of the principal components and factors calculated using body measurements of Hanwoo (Korean Cattle) and estimate their heritabilities. The technique of multivariate analysis was used to reduce a large number of variables to a smaller number of new variables and characterize cattle according to body shape. The analyses were performed using 1,979 cattle at 12 months of age and 936 cattle at 24 months of age. The data for the analyses was obtained from progeny tests performed on Korean Cattle for 6 years from 2003 to 2008. The phenotypic correlations among these traits were estimated to range from 0.32 to 0.90 at 12 months of age and from 0.21 to 0.82 at 24 months of age. The first principal components (PC1s) indicated a weighed average of overall body measurements, accounting for 99.91% of the total variation for both periods of test. The two first PCs had positive coefficients for all body measurements. The major sources of PC, such as chest girth (CG), body length (BL), rump height (RH), and wither height (WH) were similar for both test periods. The heritabilities for PC1, the first factor score (FS1), and the second factor score (FS2) were estimated by multivariate REML method. The estimated heritabilities for PC1, FS1, and FS2 were 0.33, 0.38, and 0.40, respectively, at 12 months of age and 0.26, 0.76, and 0.58 at 24 months of age. Further studies are needed to determine whether the heritabilities of FS1 and FS2 at 24 months of age were overestimated.