Evolution and Selection of Quantitative Traits

Evolution and Selection of Quantitative Traits
Author: Bruce Walsh
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 1504
Release: 2018-06-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0192566644

Quantitative traits-be they morphological or physiological characters, aspects of behavior, or genome-level features such as the amount of RNA or protein expression for a specific gene-usually show considerable variation within and among populations. Quantitative genetics, also referred to as the genetics of complex traits, is the study of such characters and is based on mathematical models of evolution in which many genes influence the trait and in which non-genetic factors may also be important. Evolution and Selection of Quantitative Traits presents a holistic treatment of the subject, showing the interplay between theory and data with extensive discussions on statistical issues relating to the estimation of the biologically relevant parameters for these models. Quantitative genetics is viewed as the bridge between complex mathematical models of trait evolution and real-world data, and the authors have clearly framed their treatment as such. This is the second volume in a planned trilogy that summarizes the modern field of quantitative genetics, informed by empirical observations from wide-ranging fields (agriculture, evolution, ecology, and human biology) as well as population genetics, statistical theory, mathematical modeling, genetics, and genomics. Whilst volume 1 (1998) dealt with the genetics of such traits, the main focus of volume 2 is on their evolution, with a special emphasis on detecting selection (ranging from the use of genomic and historical data through to ecological field data) and examining its consequences.

Genetic Relationships for Milk and Fat Yields Between Brazilian and United States Holstein Cattle Populations

Genetic Relationships for Milk and Fat Yields Between Brazilian and United States Holstein Cattle Populations
Author: Claudio Napolis Costa
Publisher:
Total Pages: 394
Release: 1998
Genre:
ISBN:

Genetic relationships between Brazilian and U.S.A. Holstein cattle populations were studies using firstlactation 305-d ME milk and fat records of 29,413 daughters of 705 sires in Brazil and 726,932 daughters of 701 sires in the U.S.A. There were 358 sires with daughter records in both countries. Data sets consisted of all herds and low and high herds stratified by within-year standar deviation for milk (HYSD) computed within counthin country. Components of (co) variance, heritability, and genetic correlations for milk and fat yields were estimated using three data groupings: all, low and high HYDS data sets form within-country and between-country bivariete and multivariate analyses, simutaneous milk and fat yields in both countries. A sire model was solved with a restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) derivative-free algorithm. Heritabilies for milk and fat yields using all the data were smaller in Brazil (.26 and .23) than in the in the U.S.A. (.33 and .36). Genetic correlations between milk and fat were .79 in Brazil and .62 in the U.S.A. Sire and residual variances for milk yield in Brazil were 59% and 81% (all herds), 51% and 58% (low HYSD herds), and 59% and 101% (high HYSD herds) as large as those obtained for all the U.S.A. data. corresponding percentage values for fat yield were 39% and 65%, and 48%, and 41 and 80%, respectively. Genetic correlations obtained from biavariate analyses between countries ranged from .79 to .87 for milk yield and were .89 or .90 for fat yield. Parameter estimates using all data for bibariate and multivariate analyses were essentially the same. Correlated response from sire selection using the U.S.A. information increased with average HYSD Brazil: daughter response was greatest (.77 kg/kg for milk yield and .63 kg/kg for fat yield) based on information from U.S.A. half-sisters in low HYSD herds. Unequal daughter responses from unequal genetic (co) variances under restrictive Brazilian conditions support the presence of an interaction between genetype and environment, which affects the yield expectation of daughters of U.S.A. sires performing in Brazilian herd enrironments.