Systems analysis approach in breeding programs

Application of myostatin in sheep breeding programs: A review

Myostatin or growth and differentiation factor 8 (GDF8), has been known as the factor causing double muscling phenotypes in which a series of mutations make the myostatin protein inactive, hence disabling it to regulate the deposition of muscle fibre. This phenotype happens with high frequency in a breed of sheep known as the Texel. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) studies show that a portion of t...

Systems analysis approach to organization of animal breeding

The economical mechanisms involved in the utilization of genetic gain. The last network expands the system under consideration to the whole agricultural system and society. Obviously the development of breeding objectives is an activity where several advantageous features of a systems analysis approach can be utilized. There seems to be and immediate need for development of computational method...

Doubled Haploids versus Conventional Breeding in CIMMYT Wheat Breeding Programs

Doubled haploid (DH) technology has been used in breeding programs for several decades and is currently the method of choice in a number of crop species, including barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), maize (Zea mays L.), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In this study we investigated via computer simulation the benefit of using DHs compared with the conventional wheat bre...

Optimizing design of breeding programs

Beef cattle breeders are increasingly being offered gene marker tests for important traits in the breeding objective. They must make an economically rational decision whether to use these tests. Besides a potential immediate effect in seedstock sales, gene marker tests will affect the genetic improvement rate in the population. To examine the returns in a multi-trait breeding objective a pseudo...

Incorporation of Competitive Effects in Breeding Programs