These can be divided into subjective and objective traits. Subjective traits, such as flavour, can only be evaluated by the human senses. This places severe limitations on efforts to improve them genetically. Amongst the objective traits Malmfors (1979) identified colour, water content, drip loss and fatness. With reasonably high heritabilities (0.3 to 0.61, they appear to offer fair potential ...

Genetic improvement of pig performance was summarised for 28 Australian pig populations at the previous AGBU pig genetics workshop (Hermesch, 2006). The average genetic trend was $1.06 per pig each year. In comparison, the top 25% of populations had achieved $1.92 per pig each year. During subsequent discussions at the workshop, breeders set a target of an annual genetic gain of $3 per pig. In ...

A method of genetically evaluating animals by using mitochondrial DNA is disclosed. Polymorphisms in mitochondrial DNA are detected by isolating, fragmenting, and sequencing the DNA. The restriction patterns and nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial DNA of different animals are correlated to expressed traits in the animals. This may be confirmed by comparing results to expression of the trait i...

Economic values or weights measure the net economic gain per unit genetic increase of a given trait. These were derived for sow productivity traits for use as weighting factors in a dam line selection index used by purebred or nucleus dam line breeders. The profit function approach was used in order to provide flexibility to alternative production systems, market requirements or population trai...

Aim Our aim was to quantify climatic influences on key leaf traits and relationships at the global scale. This knowledge provides insight into how plants have adapted to different environmental pressures, and will lead to better calibration of future vegetation–climate models. Location The data set represents vegetation from 175 sites around the world. Methods For more than 2500 vascular plant ...

Many traits of economic importance are controlled by a large number of genes (polygenes) acting in concert. Selection on estimated breeding values (EBVs) based on the infinitesimal model using Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP) has proven to be very effective for traits that are easily measured. The infinitesimal model assumes that there are an infinite number of genes, each having a small ...

The objective of this research was to examine the effects of inbreeding in the population of Holstein cattle in the Walloon region of Belgium. The effects of inbreeding on the global economic index and its components were studied by using data from the genetic evaluations of February 2004 for production, somatic cell score (SCS), computed from somatic cell counts and type. Inbreeding coefficien...

An economic selection index was developed for Beefmaster cattle in a general-purpose production system in which bulls are mated to a combination of heifers and mature cows, with resulting progeny retained as replacements or sold at weaning. National average prices from 2010 to 2014 were used to establish income and expenses for the system. Genetic parameters were obtained from the literature. E...

OBJECTIVE This study identifies single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) or gene combinations that affect the flavor and quality of Korean cattle (Hanwoo) by using the SNP Harvester method. METHODS Four economic traits (oleic acid [C18:1], saturated fatty acids), monounsaturated fatty acids, and marbling score) were adjusted for environmental factors in order to focus solely on genetic effects. ...