Using the natural abundance of nitrogen isotopes to identify cattle with greater efficiency in protein-limiting diets

The difficulty in selecting cattle for higher feed and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is an important factor contributing to poor growth and reproductive performance in dry-tropics rangelands. Therefore, the objectives were to examine the cattle variation in retaining nitrogen in a protein-deficient diet and the natural abundance of stable isotopes in body tissues as a practical alternative for the detection of more efficient cattle. In experiment 1, feed efficiency parameters were determined in 89 Brahman steers fed a protein-limiting diet for 70 days, followed by 7 days in metabolism crates for total collection of urine and faeces and calculation of nitrogen retention and NUE. The diet-animal fractionation of nitrogen isotopes (D15N) was quantified in tail hair and plasma proteins using isotope-ratio MS. There was a large variation in growth performance, feed efficiency and nitrogen losses among steers. Quantifying D15N in tail hair (D15Ntail hair) resulted in stronger correlations with feed efficiency and nitrogen metabolism parameters than when quantified in plasma proteins. D15Ntail hair was positively correlated with nitrogen losses in urine (r = 0.31, P < 0.01) and faeces (r = 0.25, P = 0.04), leading to a negative correlation with NUE (r = 0.40, P < 0.01). The group of steers with lower D15Ntail hair had greater feed efficiency, lower nitrogen losses, and greater NUE. In experiment 2, for evaluation of isotope fraction as a predictor of reproductive performance, 630 Brahman-crossed cows were classified for reproductive performance for 2 years. From this group, 25 cows with poor reproductive performance and 25 cows with good reproductive perfor- mance were selected. Tail hair representing 7 months of growth were segmented and analysed for carbon (d13C) and nitrogen (d15N) isotope enrichment. Reproductive performance was not associated with diet selection, as there was no difference in tail hair d13C between groups. However, more productive cows had lower (P < 0.05) tail hair d15N during the dry season, indicating differences in N metabolism and pos- sibly lower N losses. In addition, cows with better reproductive performance and, therefore, greater nutri- ent demands, had similar body condition scores and a tendency (P = 0.09) for higher live weight at the end of the trial. In conclusion, the findings of the present study confirm that nitrogen isotope fractiona- tion in tail hair can be used as a predictor of nitrogen losses, NUE, and reproductive performance of Brahman cattle on low-protein diets.