Efficient experimental designs for the estimation of genetic parameters in plant populations

Procedures for estimating the genetic parameters of plant populations frequently employ progeny testing to ascertain the genotype of maternal plants. However, when experimental resources are limited (e.g., electrophoretic markers), the large progeny sizes required for accurate typing severely restricts the numbers of families which can be tested. In this paper, four experimental designs with partial progeny testing are compared with the standard procedure of complete testing for their statistical efficiency in estimating the gene frequency, fixation index, and outcrossing rate at a single diallelic locus. It is shown that substantial increases in efficiency can be obtained (especially in inbred populations) if one or two individuals per family are assayed, and then further progeny testing is confined to those families which give rise to a heterozygote in this initial screening. Sample size for various purposes are computed and factors affecting the applicability of such "censored" designs are discussed.