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Title: PREDICTING GENETIC INTERACTIONS WITHIN AND ACROSS BREEDS

Author
item Vanraden, Paul

Submitted to: World Congress of Genetics Applied in Livestock Production
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/6/2006
Publication Date: 8/13/2006
Citation: Van Raden, P.M. 2006. Predicting genetic interactions within and across breeds. 8th World Congress of Genetics Applied in Livestock Production. Communication 01-39.

Interpretive Summary: Multi-breed models enable across-breed selection by calculating estimated breeding values (EBV) for crossbred animals and providing routine estimates of breed differences and heterosis. Evaluations for U.S. dairy cattle recently were revised to account for inbreeding, and a multi-breed model that accounts for heterosis was tested for yield, somatic cell score, longevity and daughter pregnancy rate. Convergence of the multi-breed and current within-breed animal models was similar; correlations of across- and within-breed EBV were >0.99 for Holsteins and slightly <0.99 for other breeds. Genetic interactions between sire and maternal grandsire (MGS) also were examined within breed for U.S. Holstein milk yield and productive life. Largest sire-MGS interactions were not quite as large as estimated heterosis across breeds (3.4% of mean) for milk yield but were larger (4% of mean) than heterosis for productive life.

Technical Abstract: Multi-breed models enable across-breed selection by calculating estimated breeding values (EBV) for crossbred animals and providing routine estimates of breed differences and heterosis. Evaluations for U.S. dairy cattle recently were revised to account for inbreeding, and a multi-breed model that accounts for heterosis was tested for yield, somatic cell score, longevity and daughter pregnancy rate. Convergence of the multi-breed and current within-breed animal models was similar; correlations of across- and within-breed EBV were >0.99 for Holsteins and slightly <0.99 for other breeds. Genetic interactions between sire and maternal grandsire (MGS) also were examined within breed for U.S. Holstein milk yield and productive life. Largest sire-MGS interactions were not quite as large as estimated heterosis across breeds (3.4% of mean) for milk yield but were larger (4% of mean) than heterosis for productive life.