Advances in reproductive technologies have become increasingly important in livestock breeding, as they are able to accelerate genetic changes due to shorter generation interval and improving accuracy in selection program. This paper addressed to highlight the possibly impacts of reproductive technologies on genetic changes and breeding schemes. Application of reproductive technologies in anima...

We propose a computational model of mating strategies for controlled animal breeding programs. A mating strategy in a controlled breeding program is a heuristic with some optimization criteria as a goal. Thus, it is appropriate to use the computational tools available for analysis of optimization heuristics. In this paper, we propose the first discrete model of the controlled animal breeding pr...

For many breeding companies, performance testing in maternal lines is generally confined to traits such as average daily gain (ADG), back fat (BF) and perhaps loin muscle depth or area (LMD or LMA), along with litter size traits such as number born alive (NBA) or total born (TB). More sophisticated breeding programs will also accommodate traits associated with sow performance, longevity or pigl...

Reproductive failure is a major source of economic loss in the beef industry. The majority of this loss occurs because cows do not become pregnant during a defined breeding season. Therefore, the goal of any breeding program is to maximize the number of females that become pregnant. This means that fertility plays a major role in the success of any breeding program. This review will focus on th...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the present conventional selection program of a swine nucleus farm and compare it with a new selection strategy employing genomic enhanced breeding value (GEBV) as the selection criteria. The ZPLAN+ software was employed to calculate and compare the genetic gain, total cost, return and profit of each selection strategy. The first strategy reflected th...

An application of DNA fingerprints (DFP) for gene introgression in breeding programs of both farm animals and plants is proposed. DFP loci, detectable by minisatellite probes, are extremely polymorphic. Individuals have unique patterns of DFP and thus can be selected for maximal genomic similarity to the recipient line, and minimal similarity to the donor line, using their DFP patterns as the c...

Very low polymorphism in the germplasm typically used by breeding programs poses a significant bottleneck with regards to molecular breeding and the exploitation of breeding materials for quantitative trait analyses. California rice cultivars, derived from a very small base of temperate japonica germplasm and having a relatively brief breeding history, are a good example. In this study, we empl...

Acipenser stellatus (stellate sturgeon) represents a sturgeon species of great importance for the scientific community and fishermen that has been intensively captured for decades. Besides of overfishing and poaching, their reproduction sites have been destroyed and their natural habitats were affected by pollution. In consequence, wild populations of stellate sturgeon have decreased dramatical...

Cow-calf producers require a consistent source of replacement females in order to maintain the size of the breeding herd at the desired level. Replacement females may be produced internally or acquired from external sources. This discussion will focus upon the critical control points that range from the selection criteria used in mating decisions to produce potential replacement heifers to the ...

The incidence of foot and leg problems and their direct and indirect consequences can be reduced by selection. The most promising approach is to select on an index that includes at least linear scores for foot angle or diagonal, rear legs rear view, and a locomotion score. Desirable are high foot angles, shorter diagonals, straighter rear legs from the rear with little to no closeness at the ho...