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Related Concept Videos

Plant Breeding and Biotechnology01:59

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Crop cultivation has a long history in human civilization, with records showing the cultivation of cereal plants beginning at around 8000 BC. This early plant breeding was developed primarily to provide a steady supply of food.
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Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
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In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).
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Restructuring breeding programs 2: Assortative mating for improved commercial genetic gain when using optimum

Tobias A M Niehoff1, Jan Ten Napel1, Torsten Pook1

  • 1Animal Breeding and Genomics, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, P.O. Box 338, Wageningen, 6700AH, The Netherlands.

Genetics, Selection, Evolution : GSE
|May 28, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Assortative mating can enhance genetic gain in breeding programs. When combined with optimum contribution selection (OCS), it increases elite animal genetic levels without negatively impacting prediction accuracy or diversity.

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Area of Science:

  • Animal Breeding and Genetics
  • Quantitative Genetics
  • Genomic Selection

Background:

  • Commercial breeding programs aim for genetic gain and competitive products.
  • Managing genetic diversity is crucial but can reduce short-term genetic gain.
  • Assortative mating strategies were investigated to increase genetic variance in next-generation animals.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate assortative mating for increasing genetic variance in livestock breeding.
  • To compare 'maximum' and 'tuned' assortative mating strategies.
  • To assess the impact of assortative mating on genetic diversity and genomic prediction accuracy.

Main Methods:

  • Two assortative mating strategies: 'maximum' and 'tuned'.
  • Comparison with random mating and optimum contribution selection (OCS).
  • Evaluation of genetic diversity, breeding value variance, and prediction accuracy.

Main Results:

  • 'Maximum' assortative mating outperformed the 'tuned' strategy.
  • Assortative mating accelerated genetic diversity loss under truncation selection.
  • Assortative mating with OCS maintained comparable inbreeding rates and increased breeding value variance.

Conclusions:

  • Assortative mating improves the genetic level of breeding program outputs.
  • The benefits of assortative mating may not outweigh competitiveness losses from diversity introduction.
  • Assortative mating should be used with diversity-aware selection methods like OCS to mitigate diversity loss.