INBREEDING

Mating systems may deviate from random mating and the partners may be chosen according to

Relationship or

Phenotypic resemblance

When partners are related to each other more closely than randomly chosen individuals, the
mating system is called inbreeding. The offspring from this mate tend to become homozygous.
The increase in homozygosity is responsible for the changes in genotype and phenotype.
Choosing partners according to phenotypic likeness is referred to as Assortive Mating. Negative
Assortive Mating is when a breeder practices compulsory mating in an attempt to make the
population more uniform. Positive Assortive Mating would pair small bulls with small cows
and vice versa.

Degree of Inbreeding

Degree or intensity of inbreeding is measured or given by the coefficient of inbreeding noted by

F. it represents the probable increase of homozygosity more closely related than the average for
the population. It may range varying from 0 – 1. It is also referred to as a percentage from 0 –
100%. By chance, either a larger or smaller proportion of the loci might become homozygous
than the computed value of F indicates. Even though 2 individuals from a line may have the
same inbreeding coefficients, they would not necessarily have become homozygous for the same
loci.

Aa BB 1 homozygous

AA bb 2 homozygous

Aa Bb 1 homozygous

Similar genes are on different loci.

2 genes a1 and a2 can be equivalent in two ways. “The genes can have the same function or the
genes may have the same sequence. They can be identical because they are both copies of the
same gene in a common ancestor. Naturally they have the same function and same nucleotide
sequence.” A result of inbreeding.

Therefore coefficient of inbreeding may be defined as the probability that 2 genes at the same
locus are identical by descent. At a particular locus, the inbreeding coefficient means a
proportion of loci equal to F are expected to carry genes that are identical by descent. In other
words, a proportion F of loci which were heterozygous in the base population has become
homozygous.

ASSUME: the base population to be an F2 with 50% heterozygotes. An inbreeding coefficient of

40% means that 40% of the heterozygotes loci have become homozygous. Calculate the
inbreeding coefficient.

40% × 50% = 20%

Therefore: 50% homozygous + 20% homozygous new = 70% Homozygous

The inbreeding coefficient will be 70%.

Bracket Style Arrow Style

D E

B B

E D

X X

D C

C F

The common ancestor above is D

In this situation we are determined to find the inbreeding coefficient of individual x. we desire to
determine the probability that x received genes that were identical by descent from D transmitted
through B and C. that is to say what is the probable proportion of loci in x that are homozygous
because x received 2 replicates of a gene at these loci from D.

Example:

A C

B D

A and B are full sibs. Calculate Fx.

COMMON ANCESTOR n CONTRIBUTIONS

A–C–B C 2 (1/2)n + 1 = 0.125
A–D-B D 2 (1/2)n + 1 = 0.125
Σ = 0.25

Therefore Fx = 25%

Furthermore the probability exists that x received gene a1 from one parent and gene a2 from the
other parent and that both genes already where identical by descent in ancestor A. the probability
that they were identical by descent in individual A is

FA (inbreeding coefficient of ancestor A)

Therefore the total probability that genes are identical by descent in individual x is

Fx = ¼ (1 + FA), therefore the formula is:

Fx = Σ (½) n+1 (1 + FA)

RELATIONSHIP

When two animals are said to be related it means that the animals mated are more closely related
than average animals of their breed.

MEASUREMENT OF REALTIONSHIP

The degree of relationship between two individuals is given by the coefficient of relationship.
This measures the probable proportion of genes that are the same for two individuals due to their
common ancestry over and above that in the base population. It is therefore a measure of the
extra similarity in the genes they possess. Since half the genes of any animal comes from his sire
and half from his dam any offspring is 5% related to each parent and 25% related to each of his
or her grandparents.

The key measuring relationship is the number growth between the two animals being studied and
their common ancestor or ancestors. The first step in computing ancestor a relationship
coefficient consists of counting the number of generations interveling between some common
ancestors and the line descendants in question. Suppose:

C A C

Y B

C is the parent ancestry

In other words A and Z are more closely related than average animals of their breed because they
have an ancestor in common close up in their pedigree. To compute the degree of relationship,
you count the number of generations from C to A and from C to Z which is also 2. Heredity is a
halving process so since inheritance has been halved twice in getting to A and twice in getting to
Z i.e, halved a total of 4 times, so the relationship of A and Z ie

RAZ = C (inheritance of C) halved 4 times

(½)4 = 0.0625 = 6.25%

This means that about 6.25% or more of A and Z gene are the same than would be the case with
animals of their breed. This example involves relationship between animals that are related
because they are descendants of the same animal. Such relationships are called collateral. The
other possible type of relationship occurs between individuals when one is a descendent of the
other. This is called direct relationship e.g. parent – offspring.

A A

S S

B B

X Y

C C

D D

E E

In this situation x and y have a common ancestor these are S and D. when there are two or more
common ancestors, the contribution of each are added to arrive at the complete coefficient of
relationship.
 A

X S

Y D

Calculating Rxy

Common Ancestor n Contribution

S 2 (½)2 = 0.25
D 2 (½)2 = 0.25
Σ = 0.5

Rxy = 0.5, this means that they have 50% of their genes in common. A, B, C and E where not
considered as common ancestors of x and y, this is because they make their contributions only
through S or D and not through both. The only way A is an ancestor of both Y and X is through
S and by including S as a common ancestor we automatically take care of A contributions. If A
had been an ancestor of both S and D we would have included him as a common ancestor since
he could have contributed the same gene to x and y through both S and D.

The Coefficient of Relationship

Because inbreeding increases homozygosity, an inbred animal will transmit similar genes to each
of his offspring more frequently than will a non-inbred individual. If an inbred animal is the
common ancestor of two related individuals they will therefore have genes in common and thus
be more highly related than if the common ancestor had not been inbred.

To take care of this, the contribution of each inbred common ancestor must be multiplied by 1 +
FA. Inbreeding also makes a population similar.
Inbred descendants of any animal will be homozygous in a greater percentage of their gene pairs
than if they were not inbred. But they maybe homozygous for different alleles of the same gene
and thus they will be less related than if they were not inbred. The denominator for the
relationship formula takes this into account making the complete formula:

Rxy = [Σ (½)n (1 + FA)] ÷ √(1 + FA) (1 + FY)

This correlation makes the relationship coefficient a measure of the degree to which the
genotypes of related animals are similar rather than leave it in terms of the proportion of genes in
a common source.

S G

X F

D I

The bracket view is shown on the next page

 G

X G

D F

X is produced by mating an inbred sire S to his daughter D

FS = (½)3

= 12.5%

Therefore S is 12.5%
 Common Ancestor n Contributions

S 1 (1/2)n+1 = (½) (1 + 0.125)

0.28125

Fx = 28%

It is likely that 75% of the genes of X come from S. since X is more highly inbred than S. X will
probably have some homozygous gene pairs that were heterozygous in S. thus reducing the
similarity of their genotypes.

Common Ancestor N 1 + FA Contribution

S–X 1 1.125 FS = (½)1 (1.125) = 0.5625

S–D–X 2 1.125 FX = (½)2 (1.125) = 0.28125

Σ = 0.84375

Rx = 0.84375 ÷ √(1+FX)(1 + FS)

= 0.703

There has been little inbreeding in most farm animals such that the denominator of relationship
coefficient it is seldom very much larger than 1 and can therefore be usually committed
especially in beef animals.

Similarity between In-breeding and Relationship

Coefficients can both be considered a probability statement. Inbreeding being the probability that
2 genes at given locus are alike by descent and Relationship being the probability that 2
individuals related by descent poses more of the same genes than unrelated individuals from the
population.
Inbreeding Coe is half the numerator of the Relationship Coe or half the relationship Coe when
the 2 related individuals are not in bred.

FX = Σ (½)n (1 + Fn) (½)

When the related individuals are the dam and sire, the inbreeding coefficient of the offspring of
can be expressed as half the numerator of the relationship coefficient between sire and dam.

Fo = ½ (RSD)

In irregular breeding systems such as closed herds like 1, 2 or 3 sire herds, approximately 1/8 Nm
+ 1/8Nf of the heterozygotes present in a population would be lost each generation, where Nm is
the number of males and Nf females . In a herd of 3 sire and 100 females; 1/24 + 1/800 of the
loci that are heterozygous would be expected to become homozygous each generation.

Since the value for Nf will almost invaluably be many times larger than Nm, the 1/8 Nf term can
be ignored with little error.

Usefulness of Inbreeding

Inbreeding is widely used as an Aid in producing seed stock which can be used with predictable
results as parents of outbred or crossbred commercial animals. This is especially in poultry.
Inbreeding is useful for the following purposes;

1. Line Breeding
Is inbreeding in the fundamental sense but it is limited to mild levels; the idea is to
maintain a high relationship to a supposedly outstanding ancestor. Line breeding is also
used when there is a high likelihood of reducing the merit of the herd when outside sires
are introduced.
2. Elimination of undesirable Recessives
Progeny testing is an example. You test for the presence of deleterious genes which are
expressed early in life. When the sire is mated to his daughters, rather than to specific
tester animals, all of the deleterious genes rather than only those which the special tester
carries have a chance to be expressed.
Sire = Aa Bb Cc Tester = aa BB CC
 3. Development of families
Inbreeding tends to develop distinct lines of families as the inbreeding clan continues.
Such family formation makes possible, effective family selection for traits such as
mortality and carcass merit.
4. Homozygosity and Prepotency
Since desirable genes are often dominant, good inbred animals are often prepotent, i.e,
they stamp their own characteristics on the offspring to the exclusion of those of the other
parent. Prepotency depends upon the homozygosity of dominant genes since inbreeding
increases homozygosity; it is therefore a tool for increasing prepotency (stamping
characteristics of one parent at the exclusion of the other).

Effects of Inbreeding

Increased Homozygosity

Loss of size

Loss of vigor and fertility

Malformation Incidence increase (lethal)

Decrease in average merit

Deprest growth rate

Genetic Bases for Inbreeding Effects

Dominance theory – some genes are dominant than others

Over Dominance Theory

There are different methods of selection that are available for use. However the breeder ought to
find out the principle involved in each type. She ought to know the advantage and disadvantages
of each selection method as regards to their use in different kinds of livestock. There can be no
selection that can be said to be better than others as such hence selection of a breeding system
ought to be based on the type of animals a breeder wants to work on and economic
considerations ought to be taken into account as well.

Information Needed to Formulate a Breeding Program

1. Identify traits of economic importance depending on

The species being worked on
Kind of product intended to be marketed
Feeding program
Prices at which product will be sold
2. Examine the methods available for determining these traits, what are required are the
methods which minimize the influence of environment
3. Determine genetic correlation between traits
4. Find out the type of gene action affecting your economic traits. This could be additive or
none additive.

Additive gene action is indicated when heritability is high. It is indicated if the crossing of 2
individuals results offspring in producing in-between the two parents. This means improvement
can be achieved by mating best to best, that is indicated when heritability is low it is also
indicated when a crossing of two parents produces an offspring that performs better than either
of the parents.

Selection Methods

A. Individual Selection (Mass Selection)

This is also called mass selection. This involves selecting an animal on the basis of its merit.
That is to say on the basis of the individuals phenotype. It is the most commonly used basis for
selective improvement for livestock. Such traits are body type, growth rate, fleese production and
other of similar nature can be evaluated directly from the erformance of the individual animal if
suitable performance records are being kept. It therefore requires an evaluation of the
individuality early in life, so that records are available by the time of initial selection of breeding
stock.

Individual selection also has short comings: some of these are

 Several important traits including milk production in dairy cattle, maternal ability in
breed cows use and sows and egg production in poultry are expressed only by females
thus selection of breeding males cannot be based on their own performance but on
information from relations such as half and full sisters, mother , ancestors and progeny
tests.
 Performance records for milk and egg production and other maternal qualities are
available only after sexual maturity is reached.
 Increases in which heritability is low individual merit is a poor indicator of breeding
value. (Non-Additive gene action at play)
 The easy appraisal of appearance of appearance or type often tempts the breeder to over
emphasize this evaluation in selection. This is true especially in meat animals in which
there is a relationship between appearance and carcass value. Despite of these short
comings, individual merit certainly must be considered in selection. In general for traits
expressed by both sexes, only animals which are themselves above average should be
used for breeding regardless of the merit of closed relations.
B. Pedigree Selection (family Tree)

The pedigree of an animal is a record of the animals which are related to it. If only the genealogy
of this individual is given, the pedigree is of extremely limited value. From a practical stand
point, knowledge of the productivity of the ancestors is necessary if the pedigree is o be useful.
Attention is paid to the pedigree because

I. Lack of adequate information on the merit of the individual

II. Selection may need to be made before the individual expresses the trait, such as feed
efficiency and feed load gain.
III. Traits may be sex limited in their expressions such as milk yield and sow productivity. So
selection of males prior to progeny test must rely on pedigree information. If the
 individuals phenotype is known with precision, little is gained by attention to the
pedigree

Disadvantages of pedigree

I. Undue emphasis on relatives particularly remote relatives resulting in reduced

intensity of individual selection
II. Unwarranted favoritism toward the progeny of favored individuals
III. The appropriate attention to the performance of each ancestor depends on the
correlation of the ancestor of the phenotypic merit and the breeding value of the
pedigreed individual
IV. Each Parent transmits only a sample of half its genes to the offspring. Even if
heritability of a trait were one permitting us to know the exact breeding values of
each parent the correlation between parents breeding value and that of a progeny
would only be 0.5. This same factor prevents the approaching a correlation of one
between the average of the parents and the offspring. The upper limit in a random
mating population has been found to be 0.71

The emphasis which should be given to individuals in the pedigree varies with the
heritability within the trait.

I. Ancestors more closely related to the individual should receive most emphasis in
pedigree appraisal.
II. When the heritability of the trait is low, the more remote ancestors should receive
relatively more emphasis but when heritability is high they provide almost no new
information.
III. Pedigree selection is much more accurate when the heritability of a trait is much
more higher. The correlation between pedigree in formation and then individuals
breeding value approaches 0.71 as heritability approaches 1. Pedigree selection is
particularly advantageous for initial selection for traits which are expressed by
only one sex.
C. Family Selection

In this system whole families are selected or rejected as units according to the means
phenotypic value of the family no weightage is given to the individual values and to within
family deviations. One disadvantages of this selection method is that all family members are
selected yet not all are necessarily superior in the trait for. It is an advantage in that
Environmental deviations of the individuals tend to cancel each other in the mean value of
the family thus the phenotype mean of the family thus the phenotype means of the family
comes quite close to being a measure of its genotypic mean. This increase of low heritability
is when environmental deviations constitute large parts of the phenotypic variance. Thus in
case of low heritability, greater advantage is gained by this selection. Mean phenotypic value
and mean genotypic value are closer with larger family size. There is a practical difficulty in
its application which arises from a conflict between the intensity of selection and the
avoidance of inbreeding. It is advisable to keep the rate of inbreeding as low as possible as
inbreeding lower the breeding value. Family selection therefore requires larger space area for
maintaining at least 2 to 4 times the number of families for selection of desired number of
pairs of parents hence it is costly. Another disadvantage is that breeders might be tempted to
select descendants of a popular family foundation of an individual who is many generations
back in the pedigree. The genetic superiority of that individual would have been halved so
many times that she or he cannot now be a source of many genes that would be common to
current members of such a family. Therefore attention should be paid to excellence of near
relatives rather than to remote relatives and genetically insignificant family names.

D. Combined individual and family situation

This gives the most accurate estimate of the breeding value of an individual as it combines its
own performance and the family average.

Selecting for several traits

Usually several qualities are of direct economic importance. For instance in sheep, wool clip
and lamb weight are both important. In pigs, growth rate, liter size, feed efficiency and
carcass quality are all important. In dairy cattle, milk yield and composition are important. tn
 beef cattle, growth rate and carcass merit are of great importance. Since there are many traits
to be considered, selection should be directed only towards the traits of real importance as
selection for more than 1 trait reduces the selection pressure on any single trait. These are
methods available for use when selecting to improve several traits.

1. TANDEM Method

In this method, selection is practiced for only one trait at a time until satisfactory level is reached
then the second trait is considered and so forth. The efficiency of this method is dependent on the
genetic relationships among the traits should there be negative relationships, the subsequent
selection for a second trait could undo the progress previously made in earlier selections. Strong
positive genetic correlations among the traits would mean that selection for one trait would
improve the correlated traits.

2. INDEPENDENT CULLING method

With this method, selection may be practiced for 2 or more traits simultaneously. A minimum
standard is set for each of the traits and all individuals below that level for any one trait are
culled without regard to their merit for the other traits. This is one of the major disadvantages of
this method. The superiority for one trait does not have an opportunity to offset lack of merit in
another trait. Suppose selecting for 2 traits in pigs, weaning weight and liter size:

Note that: 10 liter size is minimum requirement and 14kg weaning is minimum.
Therefore animals producing in the shaded are selected.

3. SELECTION INDEX (total score method)

This procedure uses scores or index values for each individual so that the index values are as
closely correlated to the individual’s composite breeding value as is possible to obtain with a
linear combination of traits. Since traits usually are not all of equal economic importance, some
differential weighing is accord with the net economic return expected from a unit of
improvement of each trait is done with the index method. All traits do not have the same
heritability thus the same intensity of selection will not be expected to give the same
proportionate improvement for each trait. Also, there may be phenotypic and genetic
interrelationships among the traits. Emphasis on one trait may affect change in another and these
interrelationships must be appropriately considered. Selection index attempts to take care of all
these factors thus making it more efficient than the other two methods above. When developing a
selection index for an animal enterprise, this information is needed:

Relative net economic importance of a change in each of the traits. This information
effectively defines the goal of the selection program. A composite of the several traits
weighed by their relative net economic importance is the goal of improvement rather than
a single trait.

Heritability or the magnitude of the genetic variance for each of the traits and the
phenotypic variance for each trait.

The phenotypic and genetic co-variances among each trait in the index. Phenotypic and
genetic correlation may be used.

The actual computation of selection index involves the technique of multiple regression. The
index computed is of the form:

I = b1X1 + b2X2 + ……… + bnXn

X is the phenotypic value for the different traits or value of importance.

 B is weights given to each of the traits and in statistical terms, the are the multiple
regression coefficients which maximize the correlation between index values and
composite breeding values.

I is the index or the total score

CROSS BREEDING

In the mating of animals from different established breeds. It is the opposite of inbreeding in that
it would increase heterozygosity as different breeds will tend to have more unlike genes as
compared to animals of the same breed.

Cross breeding is similar to outbreeding. Outbreeding is the mating of unrelated, therefore

genetically unlike animals within the same breed. They are similar except that results from cross
breeding are generally of larger magnitude than outcrossing and this is because, on average,
animals from different breeds will be genetically dissimilar than animals from different families
within the same breed. The term cross breeding, technically applies only to the 1 st crossing or
purebreds but it is generally applied also to the more widely used systems including cris crossing
off 2 breeds or the rotational crossing of 3 or more breeds and to crosses of purebred sires of one
breed to high bred females of another. There are 2 ways that cross breeding can result in
increased production levels.

I. Provides the breeder the opportunity to combine the desirable characteristics of 2

or more breeds thus achieving a higher frequency of desired traits among
crossbred animals than would generally be found within a given breed. This is
referred to as breed complementarity, referring to strong points of one breed
complementing or covering up weak points of the other breed. It increases
productivity through increased levels due to heterosis. Heterosis is measured
experimentally as the difference in performance of crossbred animals from the
average contemporary performance of straight bred animals of the breeds
involved in the cross. This difference is usually expressed as a percentage of the
average performance of the straight breds.

Calculate heterosis given the following:

 Average weaning weight of straight bred cows of breed A is 200kgs, B is 90kg and
Cross bred is 215kg

GENETIC EFFECTS OF CROSS BREEDING

The genetic effects of cross breeding are the opposite of inbreeding. Whereas inbreeding
increases homozygosity, cross breeding increases heterozygosity. When animal population are
subjected to inbreeding, the performance level of certain traits tends to be reduced below that of
the known inbred population.

In general, the same traits that exhibit the most inbreeding depression are the same traits that
exhibit the largest amount of heterosis under crossbreeding. There are 2 basic genetic
requirements for a trait to exhibit heterosis:

 There must be genetic diversity between the breeds crossed. Genetic diversity being
discussed refers to the degree of genetic similarity or dissimilarity existing between the
two breeds. If 2 breeds have given different genetic frequencies at the majority of the loci
controlling a trait they will be quite dissimilar genetically.
 There must be known additive gene effect present for the particular trait involved. Both
these conditions have to be met for heterosis to exist for any particular trait.

MERITS OF CROSSBREEDING

Cross breeding is a very useful tool available to livestock producers especially beef producers for
optimizing the production potential and approach maximum return. One of the most important
results of crossbreeding is hybrid vigor or vitality or doing ability of a hybrid animal. Hybrids
are more capable of withstanding stresses in lie and adapting to a wider range of environments.

Another benefit from cross breeding is complementarily or the combining of desirable traits from
2 different breeds into one unit. For instance, todays beef consumer desires leanness and also
wants it to grade. The Angus breed is known for its marbling ability and the charolete would
seem to be a logical mating still another benefit of cross breeding is that its effects are
cumulative. If you look at anyone trait it may seem minor but when you consider the entire
productive cycle, small increases n conception calf livability and growth rate accumulate to
provide a rather substantial margin of as much as 5% have been reported when cross breeding
was utilized to its maximum potential. Another important aspect of cross breeding is maternal
response. The F1 female exceeds the straight bred in many traits especially those related to
reproductive fitness. About half of the potential improvements from crossbreeding is realized by
the use of cross bred dams. Response to cross breeding is highly dependent upon quality of
breeds, cross bred individuals used and management level accorded to the crossbreeds. The
effectualness of cross breeding depends on the skills employed by a producer in utilizing his
available resources. These resources can be most effectively applied to cross breeding of a
planned well organized and well managed system is employed.

Look at Cris Cross Breeding

Rotational Cross

Combined cris cross and rotational

Three way cross

OUTBREEDDING

Is a general term which describes systems of breeding in which the individuals mated are less
closely related for the average population from which they come.

Types of outbreeding

OUT CROSSING

Is the mating of individuals that are less closely related than the average population within a
purebred. These maybe from different lines or females but within the same breed. It considers
traits that are highly heritable which implies that there is high correlation between the genotype
and phenotype. It is used when one wants to drastically charge characteristics of a herd.
GRADING UP

This is the mating of purebred sires to scrab or non-descript indigenous females. After 5 or 6
generations, the offspring will have 96.9% of the exotic breed.

CROSS BREEDING

Technically this is the mating of pure breeds of two different breeds.

CROSSING OF INDIVIDUALS from 2 different species

………………………………………….END……………………………………..

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