title: Breeding Jatropha curcas by genomic selection: A pilot assessment of the accuracy of predictive models.
abstract: Genomic wide selection is a promising approach for improving the selection accuracy in plant breeding, particularly in species with long life cycles, such as Jatropha. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to estimate the genetic parameters for grain yield (GY) and the weight of 100 seeds (W100S) using restricted maximum likelihood (REML); to compare the performance of GWS methods to predict GY and W100S; and to estimate how many markers are needed to train the GWS model to obtain the maximum accuracy. Eight GWS models were compared in terms of predictive ability. The impact that the marker density had on the predictive ability was investigated using a varying number of markers, from 2 to 1,248. Because the genetic variance between evaluated genotypes was significant, it was possible to obtain selection gain. All of the GWS methods tested in this study can be used to predict GY and W100S in Jatropha. A training model fitted using 1,000 and 800 markers is sufficient to capture the maximum genetic variance and, consequently, maximum prediction ability of GY and W100S, respectively. This study demonstrated the applicability of genome-wide prediction to identify useful genetic sources of GY and W100S for Jatropha breeding. Further research is needed to confirm the applicability of the proposed approach to other complex traits.
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leonardo de
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Azevedo Peixoto
authors.affiliation: Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Embrapa Agroenergia, Parque Estação Biológica-PqEB s/n, Asa Norte, Brasília, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruno Galvêas
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Laviola
authors.affiliation: Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Embrapa Agroenergia, Parque Estação Biológica-PqEB s/n, Asa Norte, Brasília, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alexandre Alonso
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Embrapa Agroenergia, Parque Estação Biológica-PqEB s/n, Asa Norte, Brasília, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tatiana Barbosa
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Rosado
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leonardo Lopes
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Bhering
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D031286:Jatropha / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008954:Models, Biological; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers