Effects of Cytoplasmic Inheritance on Production Traits of Dairy Cattle

Pedigrees of 4461 cows were traced to the original female in a maternal line. Cytoplasmic origin was defined as the first female in the maternal lineage. There were 102 cytoplasmic lines. Most cows were at least 10 generations removed from the origin. After adjustment for sire, herd, calving year, calving month, and age, cytoplasmic effects accounted for 2.0, 1.8, 1.8, and 3.5% of total variation of milk yield, milk fat yield, 3.7% fat-corrected milk yield, and milk fat percentage in first lactation. Cytoplasmic effects were also in models that included adjustments for sires, maternal grand-sires, and dam's production. Correlations among independent subsets agreed with expectations. Cytoplasmic origin was a significant source of variation of production traits of dairy cattle.