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LINE BREEDING Example

• Line breeding is a system • Let us have a hypothetical
of mating in which the example of line breeding.
relationship of an individual
is kept as close as possible • Only one ancestor in this
to some ancestor in the pedigree is responsible for
pedigree. relationship between the sire
and the dam of individual X.

• The ancestor is usually a male rather than a female • This is ancestor 5 . The arrow diagram shows that
because line breeding is not used in females. individual X traces by four separate lines to his
ancestor 5.

Comparison between Inbreeding and

Line Breeding
Line Breeding Inbreeding

• Line breeding is a form of • Inbreeding is not a form of

• This is why it is called line breeding. In this inbreeding line breeding.
pedigree, the individual X probably received
• Inbreeding is a system of
about 50% of his inheritance from ancestor 5. • In line breeding, the mating in which offspring
relationship of an are produced by parents
that are more closely
individual is kept close to related than the average of
a particular ancestor. population from which
they come.

Genetic Effects Genetic Effects

• Genetic effects • Probability of carrying Ancestral genes.
• of line breeding are the Line breeding increases the probability that the line
same as those of inbreeding bred offspring will possess the same genes as the
ancestor to which line breeding is directed.
• Ancestor possess good genes= Off springs possess
✓line breeding tends to make pairs of genes good genes.
carried in heterozygous condition in the • Ancestor possess bad genes= Off springs possess bad
ancestor more homozygous in the line bred genes.
offspring.

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Precaution
• Line breeding should be used only in a
purebred population of a high degree of
excellence.
• So for line breeding, the ancestors that is
genetically superior and carries a minimum of
detrimental genes should be used.
Uses of Line Breeding
• Line breeding is used when some truly
outstanding individual has been identified and
proved by an adequate progeny test.
Success of Line Breeding
➢ Line breeding will be successful when used
by breeders who recognize its potentialities
and its limitations
➢ And by those who have made a detailed study
of principles of inbreeding.
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Uses of Line Breeding
• Line breeding is probably the
most useful when the
outstanding individual is dead
or not available for breeding
purposes.
• A breeder who does not own
the male or cannot purchase it,
may practice line breeding to have one or more high
quality sons of the admired sire.
Uses of Line Breeding
• If such individual is still living and available
for breeding purposes, it seems more desirable
to use it on females that are not related to it.
• Unrelated Pure bred
female male
Uses of Line Breeding
• Even in these circumstances, success will
depend upon the breeder’s ability to find and
recognize individuals of outstanding merit.
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Ultimate Objective OUT BREEDING

So, the purpose of line breeding is to save the genes
present in an excellent ancestor in the next
generation before the death/loss of that excellent
ancestor.
➢The mating of individuals less closely related
than the population average is known as out
breeding.
➢The out breeding systems will create more
heterozygosity than random mating systems.
➢Increased performance due to more
heterozygosity is referred to as heterosis or
hybrid vigor.

Outbreeding Includes Continued

• Out breeding schemes vary in intensity & ➢ Crossbreeding is the mating of animals of two or more
include different breeds.

✓Out crossing, ➢ Out crossing is the mating of unrelated animals within a

✓Grading up, breed. Although crossbreeding is more extreme than
out-crossing, the genetic effects of both are similar.
✓Crossbreeding and
✓Species crossing. ➢ Grading up is the mating of scrub (of unknown ancestry)
or native females to purebred (and thus unrelated) males
to increase the percentage of purebred ancestry.

Examples Genetic effects of out breeding

• Genetic effects of out breeding, out crossing and
crossbreeding are exactly the opposite of those of
inbreeding.
• Out crossing and crossbreeding tend to increase the
heterozygosity in the genes for which the parents
possess different alleles.

• For breeds and Lines that are homozygous for different

gene pairs, the maximum amount of heterozygosity is
obtained in F1 generation, & with the segregation of
the genes in later generations heterozygosity
• Crossbred cows Outcrossed bull Grading up diminishes.

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Genetic effects of outbreeding Hybrid Vigor or Heterosis

• Heterosis or hybrid vigor is
the increased vigor of the
• These statements also apply when more than one pair offspring over that of the parents
of genes affect a particular trait, so the animal will be when unrelated individuals are mated.
more or less heterozygous than others for a particular
trait.

• Hybrid vigor includes more than just hardiness, greater viability,

a faster growth rate, greater milk producing ability and fertility.
• Outcross and crossbred animals are less likely to breed
true than are inbred animals. This is due to
• Heterosis is expressed by some traits but not by others.
heterozygosity and means that they are less likely to
transmit the same genes to all of their offspring.

Hybrid Vigor or Heterosis Calculation of Hetrosis

• Thus it is desirable to determine how the degree of • It can be estimated more accurately by
heterosis may be estimated for each trait, in a comparing groups of crossbred and purebred
general way, what traits may be improved by animals.
crossbreeding and out breeding.

• % Heterosis = Mean of F1 offspring - Mean of parent breeds X 100

• Heterosis cannot be estimated accurately for a Mean of Parent breeds
single mating because non-genetic factors may
cause a great deal of variation in a particular trait in
a single mating

Example of Heterosis