Measurement of fleece wettability in sheep and its relationship to susceptibility to fleece rot and blowfly strike

1982 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 141 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Pascoe

Fleece wettability in sheep is a character believed to be related to susceptibility to fleece rot and blowfly strike. The present study was undertaken to investigate that hypothesis and to assess wettability as a possible character for a selection program. Wool samples were taken from two flocks which had been subject to selection for wool quality and resistance to fleece rot and a third flock which was unselected. The wettabilities of about 800 samples were determined. The results were found to be repeatable and the technique was capable of distinguishing between sheep. Some problems of measurement are discussed. In the one flock with a significant incidence of fleece rot, susceptibility to fleece rot was found to be associated with higher wettabilities. The mean wettability and the variance were found to be significantly higher in the unselected flock than in the two selected flocks. The heritability of wettability was estimated in the two selected flocks and was found to be low. It is argued that there is likely to be more additive genetic variance in the unselected flock and that the observed difference in wettability was due to a correlated response to selection for resistance to fleece rot. It is considered that further work on the heritability of wettability and its genetic correlations with other characters of economic importance could be fruitful.

1968 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 303
Author(s):  
GH Brown ◽  
HN Turner

Estimates of heritabilities and of phenotypic and genetic correlations are given, based on extensive measurements on medium Peppin Merino ewes at 15–16 months of age. In general these substantiate results obtained by other workers and, in particular, confirm the high heritabilities of the traits measured. An effort has been made to try to detect possible changes in additive genetic variance for the trait under selection (clean wool weight). Estimates are obtained for data from animals at different stages of selection: (A) either unselected, or with little selection history, and (B and C) with varying amounts of selection. For stage A data the average estimated additive genetic variance was 0.31. There are problems involved in estimating from stage (B+C) data but an upper limit average value of 0.22 was obtained. Thus, although a decrease in additive genetic variance has occurred, its statistical significance is unknown and conclusions about the decrease must necessarily be tentative. In practically all cases the estimates of phenotypic and genetic correlations are of the same order of magnitude, and for the genetic correlations may be summarized as: See PDFAll other combinations of traits have negligible genetic correlations (in the range –0.20 to + 0.2).


2007 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 432 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Babar ◽  
M. van Ginkel ◽  
M. P. Reynolds ◽  
B. Prasad ◽  
A. R. Klatt

The objectives of this study were to assess the potential of using spectral reflectance indices (SRIs) as an indirect selection tool for grain yield in wheat under irrigated conditions. This paper demonstrates the genetic correlation between grain yield and SRIs, heritability and expected response to selection for grain yield and SRIs, correlated response to selection for grain yield estimated from SRIs, and efficiency of indirect selection for grain yield using SRIs in different spring wheat populations. Four field experiments, GHIST (15 CIMMYT globally adapted genotypes), RLs1 (25 random F3-derived families), RLs2 (36 random F3-derived families), and RLs3 (64 random F5-derived families) were conducted under irrigated conditions at the CIMMYT research station in north-west Mexico in 3 different years. Spectral reflectance was measured at 3 growth stages (booting, heading, and grain filling) and 7 SRIs were calculated using average values of spectral reflectance at heading and grain filling. Five previously developed SRIs (PRI, WI, RNDVI, GNDVI, SR), and 2 newly calculated SRIs (NWI-1 and NWI-2) were evaluated in the experiments. In general, the within- and between-year genetic correlations between grain yield and SRIs were significant. Three NIR-based indices (WI, NWI-1, and NWI-2) showed higher genetic correlations (0.73–0.92) with grain yield than the other indices (0.35–0.67), and these observations were consistent in all populations. Broad-sense heritability estimates for all indices were in general moderate to high (0.60–0.80), and higher than grain yield (0.45–0.70). The realised heritability for the 3 NIR-based indices was higher than for the other indices and for grain yield itself. Expected response to selection for all indices was moderate to high (0.54–0.85). The correlated response for grain yield estimated from the 3 NIR-based indices (0.59–0.64) was much higher than the correlated response for grain yield estimated from the other indices (0.31–0.46), and the efficiency of indirect selection for these 3 NIR-based indices was 90–96% of the efficiency of direct selection for grain yield. These results demonstrate the potential for using the 3 NIR-based SRI tools in breeding programs for selecting for increased genetic gains for yield.


1971 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 497-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. RAHNEFELD

Recurrent mass selection for post-weaning average daily gain was practiced for seven generations in a population of Lacombe swine. Response to selection was positive, but the observed response was estimated to be only 0.33 of the predicted. The pooled estimate of additive genetic variance was 0.0013 ± 0.0002. Realized heritability was 0.126 ± 0.029. The pooled estimate of heritability obtained from components of variance and parent-offspring regression was 0.377 ± 0.058. Litter size was positively correlated with average daily gain (0.14 piglet per generation). No significant effects of selection in reducing additive genetic variance were observed.


1968 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 303
Author(s):  
GH Brown ◽  
HN Turner

Estimates of heritabilities and of phenotypic and genetic correlations are given, based on extensive measurements on medium Peppin Merino ewes at 15–16 months of age. In general these substantiate results obtained by other workers and, in particular, confirm the high heritabilities of the traits measured. An effort has been made to try to detect possible changes in additive genetic variance for the trait under selection (clean wool weight). Estimates are obtained for data from animals at different stages of selection: (A) either unselected, or with little selection history, and (B and C) with varying amounts of selection. For stage A data the average estimated additive genetic variance was 0.31. There are problems involved in estimating from stage (B+C) data but an upper limit average value of 0.22 was obtained. Thus, although a decrease in additive genetic variance has occurred, its statistical significance is unknown and conclusions about the decrease must necessarily be tentative. In practically all cases the estimates of phenotypic and genetic correlations are of the same order of magnitude, and for the genetic correlations may be summarized as: See PDFAll other combinations of traits have negligible genetic correlations (in the range –0.20 to + 0.2).


2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (10) ◽  
pp. 2566 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Estany ◽  
D. Villalba ◽  
M. Tor ◽  
D. Cubiló ◽  
J. L. Noguera

Genetics ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-549
Author(s):  
Gunther Schlager

ABSTRACT Response to two-way selection for systolic blood pressure was immediate and continuous for about eight generations. In the twelfth generation, the High males differed from the Low males by 38 mmHG; the females differed by 39 mmHg. There was little overlap between the two lines and they were statistically significant from each other and from the Random control line. There appeared to be no more additive genetic variance in the eleventh and twelfth generations. Causes for the cessation of response are explored. This is probably due to a combination of natural selection acting to reduce litter sizes in the Low line, a higher incidence of sudden deaths in the High line, and loss of favorable alleles as both selection lines went through a population bottleneck in the ninth generation.—In the eleventh generation, the selected lines were used to produce F1, F2, and backcross generations. A genetic analysis yielded significant additive and dominance components in the inheritance of systolic blood pressure.


1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. D. Cameron ◽  
M. K. Curran

AbstractResponses to divergent selection for lean growth rate with ad-libitum feeding (LGA), for lean food conversion (LFC) and for daily food intake (DFI) in Landrace pigs were studied. Selection was practised for four generations with a generation interval ofl year. A total of 2642 pigs were performance tested in the high, low and control lines, with an average of 37 boars and 39 gilts performance tested per selection line in each generation. The average within-line inbreeding coefficient at generation four was equal to 0·04. There was one control line for the DFI and LFC selection groups and another control line for the LGA selection group. Animals were performance tested in individual pens with mean starting and finishing weights of 30 kg and 85 kg respectively with ad-libitum feeding. The selection criteria had phenotypic s.d. of 32, 29 and 274 units, for LGA, LFC and DFI, respectively, and results are presented in phenotypic s.d.Cumulative selection differentials (CSD) were 5·1, 4·5 and 5·5 phenotypic s.d. for LGA, LFC and DFI, respectively. Direct responses to selection were 1·4,1·1 and 0·9 (s.e. 0·20) for LGA, LFC and DFI. In each of the three selection groups, the CSD and direct responses to selection were symmetric about the control lines. The correlated response in LFC (1·1, s.e. 0·19) with selection on LGA was equal to the direct response in LFC. In contrast, the direct response in LGA was greater than the correlated response (0·7, s.e. 0·18) with selection on LFC. There was a negative correlated response in DFI (-0·6, s.e. 0·18) with selection on LFC, but the response with selection on LGA was not significant (0·2, s.e. 0·16).Heritabilities for LGA, LFC and DFI ivere 0·25, 0·25 and 0·18 (s.e. 0·03), when estimated by residual maximum likelihood, with common environmental effects of 0·12 (s.e. 0·02). Genetic correlations for LFC with LGA and DFI were respectively positive (0·87, s.e. 0·02) and negative (-0·36, s.e. 0·09), while the genetic correlation between DFI and LGA was not statistically different from zero, 0·13 (s.e. 0·10). Selection on components of efficient lean growth has identified LGA as an effective selection objective for improving both LGA and LFC, without a reduction in DFI.


2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1886) ◽  
pp. 20181374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evatt Chirgwin ◽  
Dustin J. Marshall ◽  
Carla M. Sgrò ◽  
Keyne Monro

Parental environments are regularly shown to alter the mean fitness of offspring, but their impacts on the genetic variation for fitness, which predicts adaptive capacity and is also measured on offspring, are unclear. Consequently, how parental environments mediate adaptation to environmental stressors, like those accompanying global change, is largely unknown. Here, using an ecologically important marine tubeworm in a quantitative-genetic breeding design, we tested how parental exposure to projected ocean warming alters the mean survival, and genetic variation for survival, of offspring during their most vulnerable life stage under current and projected temperatures. Offspring survival was higher when parent and offspring temperatures matched. Across offspring temperatures, parental exposure to warming altered the distribution of additive genetic variance for survival, making it covary across current and projected temperatures in a way that may aid adaptation to future warming. Parental exposure to warming also amplified nonadditive genetic variance for survival, suggesting that compatibilities between parental genomes may grow increasingly important under future warming. Our study shows that parental environments potentially have broader-ranging effects on adaptive capacity than currently appreciated, not only mitigating the negative impacts of global change but also reshaping the raw fuel for evolutionary responses to it.


2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thierry Boujard ◽  
Julien Ramezi ◽  
Marc Vandeputte ◽  
Laurent Labbé ◽  
Muriel Mambrini

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