Strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa ) seedlings from 50 bi-parental crosses among 20 elite genotypes were evaluated for resistance to Phytophthora cactorum after artificial inoculation. Plots of seedlings or runner plants were rated using a disease severity score and the percentage of stunted plants per plot. The distribution of cross means for percentages of plants with stunting was highly skewed...

Maternal genetic effects (MGEs), where genes expressed by mothers affect the phenotype of their offspring, are important sources of phenotypic diversity in a myriad of organisms. We use a single-locus model to examine how MGEs contribute patterns of heritable and nonheritable variation and influence evolutionary dynamics in randomly mating and inbreeding populations. We elucidate the influence ...

Although epistasis is common in gene systems that determine quantitative traits, it is usually not possible to estimate the epistatic components of genotypic variance because experiments in breeding programs include only one type of progeny. As the study of this phenomenon is complex, there is a lack of theoretical knowledge on the contribution of the epistatic variances when predicting gains f...

The widespread occurrence of female multiple mating (FMM) demands evolutionary explanation, particularly in the light of the costs of mating. One explanation encapsulated by "good sperm" and "sexy-sperm" (GS-SS) theoretical models is that FMM facilitates sperm competition, thus ensuring paternity by males that pass on genes for elevated sperm competitiveness to their male offspring. While suppo...

The relative importance between additive and non-additive genetic variance has been widely argued in quantitative genetics. By approaching this question from an evolutionary perspective we show that, while additive variance can be maintained under selection at a low level for some patterns of epistasis, the majority of the genetic variance that will persist is actually non-additive. We propose ...

PURPOSE To determine whether the distribution of naturally occurring myopia in Labrador Retrievers has a genetic component. METHODS Pedigree records of a large canine family were analyzed. Pure Labrador Retrievers, 1 to 8 years of age, free of ocular disease, and available for testing were studied. Refractive error was measured by cycloplegic retinoscopy in both eyes. The family included mati...

Studies using the classical twin design often conclude that most genetic variation underlying personality is additive in nature. However, studies analyzing only twins are very limited in their ability to detect non-additive genetic variation and are unable to detect sources of variation unique to twins, which can mask non-additive genetic variation. The current study assessed 9672 MZ and DZ twi...

Covariances between traits can be partitioned into additive and dominance genetic components and betweenand within;.jamily environmental components, using a method analogous to that used in the analysis of single traits. The problem arises as to whether all additive genetic components simply rejlect a single additive component, in the sense that, given an appropriate rescaling oj the breeding v...

BACKGROUND Objective was to simulate the data for the QTLMAS 2010 Workshop under a model that includes major additive, epistatic and parent-of-origin effects. RESULTS Data were simulated for 3226 individuals in 5 generations. Genomic data for 5 chromosomes were simulated using coalescent model. In total, the data included 10,031 SNPs, 30 additive QTLs, 2 interacting QTL pairs, and 3 imprinted...

Hookworms infect approximately 740 million humans worldwide and are an important cause of morbidity. The present study examines the role of additive genetic effects in determining the intensity of hookworm infection in humans, and whether these effects vary according to the sex of the host. Parasitological and epidemiological data for a population of 704 subjects in Papua New Guinea were used i...