Multibreed genetic evaluation in bovines using simulated data employing a composite population.
Genetic evaluations in Brazil are performed within each animal breed; however, with the wide range of extant genetic groups in the country and the increased use of genetic crossing as a form of rapid meat production, more elaborate programs that can jointly evaluate animals of different genetic groups are needed. Genetic evaluation of a composite breed is difficult because of the variation in the genetic composition of a given herd, as well as the inclusion of non-additive genetic effects among breeds that can be important for selecting traits in certain breed combinations. Newer models include additive and non-additive effects; however, few studies have investigated these aspects in tropical breeds. The aim of this study was to simulate genetic values to compare different models. Non-inclusion of maternal effects in models leads to overestimation of variance and direct heritability. Estimates of the biological additive effects are influenced by the maternal effects; however, estimates of the non-additive effects are minimally influenced by the maternal effects and are well estimated in any situation. The studied models effectively predict the direct genetic values.
Departamento de Zootecnia, Escola de Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Campus Jataí, Jataí, GO, Brasil albocchi@hotmail.com.
A L
AL
Bocchi
Departamento de Zootecnia, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil.
H N
HN
Oliveira
Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos, Universidade de São Paulo, Pirassununga, SP, Brasil.
J B S
JB
Ferraz
Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos, Universidade de São Paulo, Pirassununga, SP, Brasil.
J P
JP
Eler
D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D002417:Cattle / Q000235:genetics*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006823:Hybrid Vigor / Q000235:genetics; D040582:Inheritance Patterns / Q000235:genetics; D016014:Linear Models; D008957:Models, Genetic; D014886:Weaning; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000235:genetics