Breeding value estimation

Breeding value refers to the value of an animal in a breeding program for a particular trait.
An animal's breeding value is estimated to be twice the expected performance of its progeny. The
reason for doubling the expected progeny performance is that only half of the genes from the
individual are transmitted to any offspring (with the remaining half coming from the other
parent). The expected progeny performance is called transmitting ability and is, therefore, half of
the breeding value. In other words, transmitting ability is the genetic advantage an individual
transmits to its offspring.

Breeding values can be estimated based on the animal's own records and the performance of
known relatives. These estimated breeding values divided by 2 may be used to predict the
performance of future offspring and are termed Predicted Transmitting Ability or PTA. For
example, the daughters of a bull with a PTA of 200 kg for milk yield would be expected to
produce, on average, 50 kg more milk per mature lactation than the daughters of a bull with a
PTA of 150 kg for milk yield if their dams have equal genetic merit. The actual difference will
not be exact for comparing individual daughters because no two daughters would get exactly the
same combination of genes or be exposed to exactly the same environment. Thus, daughters of
the same sire may have widely varying performance.

Principle of estimating breeding value

• Based on regression
• Predicting difference in breeding value from phenotypic differences

Goal of breeding value estimation:

 selection of the animal
 ranging on the basis of genetic superiority
 accuracy
 Heritability

The total performance (resulting from gene activity +environmental effects)

Heritability estimates have been determined by scientific research and are being refined
continuously.
A basic within-group EBV is calculated by running a group of animals, of roughly the
same age and sex, together under exactly the same conditions (environment) for a
period of time, during which measurements are taken on each animal. These
measurements may include weights at birth, 200, 400 and 600 days of age, fat depths,
eye muscle areas and scrotal size.

These measurements are adjusted by the computer to put all animals in the group on
the same ‘level playing field’. For example, they have to be adjusted to the same age to
give a fair comparison. The average measurement for the group is then worked out, and
then the amount by which each individual within the group differs from that average.
 How EBV can be calculated?
An Estimated Breeding Value (EBV) is an estimate of how a particular animal is going to
perform as a parent. Because parents only pass their genes onto their offspring and not the effects
of the environment, EBVs are an estimate of only the genetic part of the difference in
performance between animals. The percentage of this genetic part of the difference in
performance is known as the heritability or the strength of the genetic influence in a particular
trait.
There are always three steps you need to take to estimate the breeding value of an animal:
 determine the phenotypic superiority of your information source.
 determine the regression coefficient
 combine the previous two to estimate the breeding value
For estimating breeding values we needed the regression coefficient, but also the phenotypic
superiority. So how do we obtain that if we have information on more than just a single animal?
Fortunately that is simple: just take the average. For example, if you want to estimate the
breeding value for a sire with 20 offspring based on the offspring performance, then you take the
average of the performance of the offspring and relate that to the population average. If the
offspring average is 50 and the population average is 40, than

Next step is to combine the regression coefficient and the phenotypic superiority so that we can
estimate the breeding value. Remember the basic principle:

Examples:1.What is the EBV for a stallion with excellent parents?The heritability for rideability
in riding horses is 0.29. The sire of this stallion scored 9.5 for rideability, and the dam scored 9.0.
The population average is 7.0

Step 1: the phenotypic superiority equals the parent average, which is (9.5+9.0)/2 – 7.0 = 2.25

Step 2: the regression coefficient for mid-parent information is h2 = 0.29

Step 3: the EBV = 0.29 * 2.25 = 0.65

2. What is the EBV for milk production of a dairy bull with 100 daughters (half-sisters)?

The heritability for milk production is 0.3. The daughters produce on average 10,000 kg, and the
population average is 9.500 kg.

Step 1: the phenotype superiority = 10,000 – 9,500 = 500 kg.

Step 2: the regression coefficient (see formula for offspring information in table 1)

b= (½ * 100 * 0.3)/(1+ ¼*(100-1)*0.3) = 15 / 8.425 = 1.78.

Step 3: the EBV for milk production of this bull is 1.78 * 500 = 890 kg.

Note: the maximum regression coefficient of a single parent (usually sire) on offspring is 2
because the sire passes half its genome on to the offspring. Turning that around, and assuming
that the sire is mated to average dams, if you have information on the superiority of the offspring
than that of the sire is that of the offspring times 2.

Thus:

The maximum regression coefficient when using offspring information is 2, and not 1

3 What is the EBV for average daily gain while growing from 25 to 100 kg of a pig with
information on 20 full sibs, but no own performance?

The heritability for slaughter weight is 0.4, the population average is 875 g/d, and that of the 20
full sibs is 900 g/d. The common environmental effect for full sibs (c2) = 0.45

Step 1: the phenotypic superiority = 900 – 875 = 25 g/d

Step 2: the regression coefficient = (½* 20 * 0.4)/(1+(20-1)*( ½* 0.4 + 0.45)) = 4/13.35 = 0.30

Step 3: the EBV for average daily gain from 25 to 100 kg for this pig is 25 * 0.3 = 7.5 g/d.

Note: the regression coefficient is lower than the heritability. Reason is that full sibs perform
more alike because they have shared a common environment. Therefore, a smaller proportion of
the phenotypic superiority can be assigned to shared genetics than without shared common
environment. This is taken into account through the c2 when determining the regression
coefficient for estimating the breeding value.

Thus, the presence of a common environmental effect has a reducing effect on the estimated
breeding value