Innovative layer genetics to handle global challenges in egg production

1. In commercial layer breeding, extensive gene pools are tested and selected for market requirements which must be anticipated at least 5 years ahead. Field results confirm a continuous positive genetic trend in egg output and better feed efficiency which can be converted into land savings.

2. Animal welfare and cage-free housing dominate future needs of the market. Nesting behaviour and minimal tendency to develop feather-pecking or cannibalism without beak treatment are key trait complexes. Stronger shells for longer production cycles without moulting have to be combined with better bones.

3. No single big gene effect can be expected to control the multifactorial problem of feather-pecking. Adjusting the shape of the beak, with a heritability of .10–.25, can contribute to reducing the risk of severe cannibalism.

4. For better skeletal integrity, the assessment of bone quality in pedigree birds housed in enriched cages is done by keel bone palpation or ultrasound measurement of the humerus. Both traits show similar heritabilities in the range of .15–.30 and can be included in a balanced selection approach for performance, quality and welfare traits.

5. The combination of performance testing and genome-wide DNA marker analysis is a promising tool to generate more progress for a balanced performance and behaviour profile.     

Single step genomic evaluation for female fertility in Nordic Red dairy cattle

Joint Nordic (Denmark, Finland, Sweden) genetic evaluation of female fertility is currently based on the multiple trait multilactation animal model (BLUP). Here, single step genomic model (ssGBLUP) was applied for the Nordic Red dairy cattle fertility evaluation. The 11 traits comprised of nonreturn rate and days from first to last insemination in heifers and first three parities, and days from calving to first insemination in the first three parities. Traits had low heritabilities (0.015–0.04), but moderately high genetic correlations between the parities (0.60–0.88). Phenotypic data included 4,226,715 animals with records and pedigree 5,445,392 animals. Unknown parents were assigned into 332 phantom parent groups (PPG). In mixed model equations animals were associated with PPG effects through the pedigree or both the pedigree and genomic information. Genotype information of 46,914 SNPs was available for 33,969 animals in the pedigree. When PPG used pedigree information only, BLUP converged after 2,420 iterations whereas the ssGBLUP evaluation needed over ten thousand iterations. When the PPG effects were solved accounting both the pedigree and the genomic information, the ssGBLUP model converged after 2,406 iterations. Also, with the latter model breeding values by ssGBLUP and BLUP became more consistent and genetic trends followed each other well. Models were validated using forward prediction of the young bulls. Reliabilities and variance inflation of predicted genomic breeding values (values for parent averages in brackets) for the 11 traits ranged 0.22–0.31 (0.10–0.27) and 0.81–0.95 (0.83–1.06), respectively. The ssGBLUP model gave always higher validation reliabilities than BLUP, but largest increases were for the cow fertility traits.     

喀斯特山区2个鲫鱼群体基于转铁蛋白的遗传多样性研究

为了解喀斯特山区2个不同鲫鱼群体在蛋白质水平的遗传多样性及其遗传差异,运用聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳方法对喀斯特山区2个群体鲫鱼的血清转铁蛋白电泳表型及多样性进行研究。结果表明:群体克隆多样性指数表现为草海鲫鱼(0.32)﹥红鲫(0.25,对照)﹥普安鲫鱼(0.13);3个鲫鱼群体的13个克隆由9个不同的等位基因产生,等位基因的频率分别为Tf~a0.144 9、Tf~b0.202 9、Tf~c0.036 2、Tf~d0.058 0、Tf~e0.007 2、Tf~f0.239 1、Tf~g0.014 5、Tf~h0.275 4、Tf~i0.029 0;普安鲫鱼与草海鲫鱼和红鲫无共享的基因型;普安鲫鱼与草海鲫鱼之间的遗传相似性指数较高(0.714 3),遗传距离较小(0.285 7)。总体来看,草海鲫鱼的克隆多样性水平较高,其转铁蛋白多样性程度较普安鲫鱼丰富;2个群体之间存在较近的亲缘关系,未达到遗传距离种的分化标准。     

人工合成小麦紫色胚芽鞘的遗传定位分析

为探明小麦花青素色素沉积的关键位点,以167份重组自交系群体为材料,利用已构建的高密度遗传图谱对来源于硬粒小麦(AABB)和节节麦亚种tauschii(DD)杂交后所得的人工合成小麦SHW-L1中控制紫色胚芽鞘的基因进行遗传定位。同时利用目标性状关联遗传区段对SHW-L1及其亲本进行基因型鉴定。结果表明:目标性状在重组自交系群体中表现为单基因遗传,且被定位于7D染色体,其关联遗传区段在异源六倍化过程中有遗传位点缺失。     

不同来源花生品种的ISSR分析及亲缘关系研究

利用13对ISSR引物对28个栽培种花生品种进行PCR扩增,研究这些品种的DNA多态性及其亲缘关系。结果表明,有7对引物检测到明显的多态性,从28个花生品种中扩增出90条带,其中多态性带达到79条,多态性比率为87.8%,平均每个引物可扩增出12.86条带,11.29条为多态性条带。品种间的遗传相似系数值在0.411~0.800之间,平均为0.620。在UPGMA聚类分析简单匹配系数值为0.57处,可把28个花生品种分成3个品种群。由此表明,这些不同来源的花生品种具有较高的DNA多态性,亲缘关系不同。     

结球甘蓝抽薹性遗传规律和QTL定位分析

以早抽薹‘S-1’与晚抽薹‘G-1’为亲本，构建F1、BC1、BC2和F2群体，采用植物数量性状主基因 + 多基因混合遗传模型分析法对结球甘蓝抽薹性状进行遗传分析，并采用SLAF-BSA方法对抽薹时间进行QTL定位分析。结果显示，结球甘蓝抽薹性状是由2对加性—显性—上位性主基因 + 加性—显性多基因遗传控制；主基因 + 多基因平均遗传率是93.41%。共检测到2个QTL，分别为2号染色体上的2.31 ~ 3.09 Mb和33.57 ~ 34.40 Mb，总长度为1.61 Mb。     

Relationship of Icelandic cattle with Northern and Western European cattle breeds,admixture and population structure

ABSTRACT

Icelandic cattle is believed to have been brought from Norway during the settlement of Iceland around AD 870-930. Previous research on genetic relationships has indicated that Icelandic cattle is most related to northern Nordic indigenous breeds. Using single nucleotide polymorphism genotype data from Icelandic cattle and 29 Northern and Western European cattle breeds, we studied relationships and admixture among these breeds, and assessed population structure in Icelandic cattle. Population structure analysis through principal component analysis, estimation of ancestry, and analysis of patterns of population splitting and mixing revealed that Icelandic cattle are most related to three Finncattle breeds (Eastern, Northern and Western Finncattle), and Swedish Mountain cattle. Icelandic cattle has very low levels of admixture. We observed very limited population structure in Icelandic cattle. The observed structure was due to variable sire contributions. Over 1000 years of almost complete isolation has made Icelandic cattle highly genetically distinct from other cattle breeds.     

Analysis on Genetic Diversity and Phyletic Evolution of mtDNA Cytb Gene in Zhongdian Yak

In order to investigate the genetic diversity and the origin of evolutionary relationship of Zhongdian yak,we analyzed the complete sequence of 15 individuals Cytb gene,its sequence polymorphism was analyzed,and the phylogenetic tree was constructed.The results showed that the length of the nucleotide sequence were 1 140 bp,with nucleotide frequencies of 26.3%,31.8%,13.1% and 28.8% for T,A,G and C,respectively.Three haplotypes were identified of 15 individuals,with 3 polymorphic sites,including two conversions,one transversion,haplotype diversity was 0.2571 and nucleotide diversity was 0.00035.Phylogenetic analysis suggested that Zhongdian yak and Bos mutusc clustered firstly,then gathered with Bison bison,which indicated that there were high genetic similarity and closer genetic relationship,genetic similarity with other cattle genus was relatively low.Combining with the proof of molecular biology and paleontology,the result supported the point that Bos grunniens and Bos mutus were classified as an alone genus in Bovinae.     

Over 40% of 450 registered wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum) worldwide are composed of multiple biotypes

Many of 450 common wheat cultivars bred and registered during the twentieth century in 12 countries were proved, due to seed-by-seed analysis, to be composed of two or more biotypes differing in their alleles at the gliadin (Gli) loci. These multiple biotypes may be regarded as authentic progeny of the respective parent lines, as evidenced by the gliadin composition of the respective parents. Therefore, the official claim for each cultivar to be uniform is commonly not maintained in practice. The most frequent was a non-uniform cultivar composed of two biotypes differing at one Gli locus, but there were cultivars represented by a large set of related genotypes differing at several Gli loci. The proportion of the multi-biotype cultivars was never less than 15% for a country collection, exceeding 50% in other countries. This proportion differed significantly between neighbouring countries. In Australia, all multi-biotype cultivars were found in eastern states; in the state of Victoria, their frequency was statistically higher than in the rest of the country. The proportion of multi-biotype cultivars among newly-released cultivars decreased with time in Australia and the UK. Thus, the non-uniformity of registered cultivars represents a general and important phenomenon of common wheat as a crop.