Heritability

Sirjan Bastola
2019-06-19/20
 Statistics of Quantitative Genetics
Covariation
- Measures how two traits or values vary together
in a population

 Example- feed intake rate and weight gain,

number of off-springs and survivability

 Importance of covariation
1) Direction of change
2) Strength of relationship
3) Amount of change in unknown variable
(from known change in known variable)
Measures of Covariation
1) Covariance (basic measure)
2) Correlation
3) Regression

Correlation (r)
 Like Variation  Variance  Standard deviation,
Co-variation  Co-variance  Correlation
 Correlation or Correlation coefficient is a measure of
strength of relationship between two variables
 rX,Y = cov (X, Y)
SDx .SDY
 Range: -1 to +1
Types of Correlation
1) Phenotypic Correlation (rPx , Py )
2) Genetic Correlation (rBVx , BVy)
3) Environmental Correlation (rEx, Ey )
Examples
1) Phenotypic correlation between
- weaning weight and grease fleece weight in lamb (+0.3)
2) Genetic correlation between
- scrotal circumference and age at puberty in cattle (-0.9)
3) Environmental correlation between
- average daily gain and back-fat thickness in swine (+.4)
(Feed intake)
(Weight Strong positive covariation
gain)

Strong negative covariation

Do not covary
 Heritability
General understanding

 It tells us the extent to which the observed differences in animal

performance is due to inheritance (of additive genes).
 It tells us the extent to which the observed differences in animal
performance is due to genetic differences
Heritability
General understanding

 If a trait is highly heritable,

- high performing parents tend to produce high performing off-springs

- low performing parents tend to produce low performing off-springs

 If a trait is less heritable,

- performance traits of parents tell less about the off-springs
 Broad Sense Heritability (H2 )
 Narrow Sense Heritability (h2 )
 Broad sense heritability (H2 )

 H2 = VG = VG = V A + VD + V I
VP VG + VE VA + V D + V I + V E

 It is defined as the proportion of total phenotypic

variance that is due to genetic differences between
individuals in a population.
 It measures the degree to which phenotypic
variance is due to variation in genetic factors for a
single population.
 Value ranges from 0 to 1.
 Broad Sense Heritability (h2 )

 H2 = r2 P, GV

 It is the square of the correlation between phenotypic values

(performance) and genotypic values.
 It measures the strength of relationship between P and GV
for a trait in a population.
If H2 = 0, VG = 0
- Genetic differences among individuals have no effect in
observed variability.
- All observed phenotypic variation is due to environment
variation.
 If H2 = 1, VE = 0
- Environmental differences among individuals have no effect
in observed variability.
- All observed phenotypic variation is due to genetic
variation.
 Narrow Sense Heritability (H2 )

 h2 = V A = VA = VA
VP VG + VE V A + V D + VI + VE

 It is defined as the proportion of total phenotypic

variance that is due to additive genetic differences
between individuals in a population.
 Out of 4 variance components, only additive
genetic variance (VA ) is useful in predicting the
phenotypes of offspring from phenotypes of their
parents.
 Value ranges from 0 to 1.
 Narrow Sense Heritability (h2 )

 h2 = r2 P, BV

 It is the square of the correlation between phenotypic values

(performance) and breeding values.
 It measures the strength of relationship between P and BV
for a trait in a population.
 If h2 closer to 1
- Additive genetic variance (VA ) occupies greater proportion
of total phenotypic variance (VP ).
- Based on knowledge of parental phenotype,
greater is our ability to accurately predict off-springs
phenotype
 Usefulness of Broad Sense Heritability (H2 )

 Useful for investigating organisms with long generation time

 Useful in highly inbred strains or genetic clones
 H2 typically measured only in studies that compare identical twins
to each other
- Identical twins have same alleles at all loci
- All 3 components of genetic variance are the same in both twins
Shortcomings of Broad Sense Heritability (H2 )

 Not possible to obtain absolute H2 for any character

 Not accurate in estimating the selection potential of
quantitative traits (means not useful in selection)
- H2 takes into account all forms of genetic variation not
specifically additive genetic effects
- does not reflect the relationship between the
performance of animals and their potential as parents
 Comparisons of phenotypic values between the parents
and off-springs can not measure H2
- Only one of the alleles at any locus is shared between
any one off-spring
- Combination of alleles among different loci also differ
 Usefulness of Narrow Sense Heritability (h2 )

 Useful in parent-offspring studies

- Comparison of parents and offspring represent only the VA because VD
and VI are randomized over the population and their effects can not be
measured
 Important for animal breeders
1) VA helps to precisely predict the range of phenotypic values expected
among progeny of crosses animal breeders often calculate h2 of traits of
interest
2) It dictates how strongly a particular trait will respond to selection for a
particular trait value.
3) h2 values are useful in assessing selection potential in randomly breeding
animal population.
 Predicting phenotypes by heritability

 Studies have shown IQ scores

have a genetic component.
 h2 of IQ= 0.4

Predicted deviation of offspring’s

phenotype from the mean of
population

 Narrow-sense heritability translates

(Tp - µ) into a “heritable” difference
which is expected in offspring.
 We can predict offspring’s phenotype
by adding this heritable difference to
the mean.
 Artificial selection (Truncation selection)
 Measurement of central tendencies (mean)
µ - Mean of parental generation
Ts - Mean of selected parents
To - Mean of off springs resulting from
inbreeding selected parents
 Calculations
To = µ + h2 (Ts - µ)
or, To - µ = h2 (Ts - µ)

i.e. h2 = To - µ = R Response to selection

Ts - µ S Selection differential/
Strength of selection
R = h2 S
(This heritability, h2 is also known as
realized heritability / realized h2 . )

 Response to selection (R)

Figure. The strategy of artificial selection (truncation selection).
The total parental generation has a bell-shaped distribution
for the phenotypic trait, but only individuals above a certain
size are selected and allowed to breed (yellow shading).
The selection differential (S = Ts - µ ) is the difference in the mean
phenotypic value (average trait value) between the selected parents
and total population (both breeding and non breeding).
The response to selection (R = To - µ = h2 S) is the difference in
the mean phenotypic values of the offspring and overall population
that included their parents. The ratio R/S equals the narrow-sense
heritability (h2 ). Narrow sense heritability predicts the response to
selection on a quantitative trait. If h2 is high, the offspring of those
selected parents will have a mean phenotypic value higher than the
mean of the original population, the difference being
- It’s the amount (or rate) of evolution (or change) in mean
trait value in each generation, resulting from selection
applied by breeder
- measures the strength of artificial selection (S)
- measures how much the mean of this trait has
changed in one generation
 If selection process is repeated at each generation,
mean of population will increase incrementally.
R.
 Significance of heritability (h2 ) in artificial selection

 Artificial selection
- Process of selecting a specific group of individuals from an initially
heterogeneous population for future breeding purposes.
 Truncation selection
- Process of selecting a specific group of individuals with
trait values above a certain cutoff to produce the next generation
 A trait’s heritability determines its potential for selection or evolution.
 A trait with higher h2 has a higher potential for selection or evolution
via selection (natural or artificial)
 Heritability values are important in breeding programs to improve
agriculturally important animal species.
- If h2 is low program will have low success

alter environment of herd or

search other representatives in other places to increase VG
-If h2 is high breeding program will have success improve the herd.
 “h2 ”and “S” directly determine the trait’s amount or rate of evolution in
each generation (R).
 Heritability estimates of traits

Source- Klug and Cummings, 2016

 In general, heritability is low for traits that are essential for

organism’s survival.
 It’s because natural selection has largely optimized the genetic component
of these traits during evolution.
 Heritability is high for traits that are less critical to survival.
e.g. body weight, tail length, wing length
 It’s because more genotypic variation for such traits is still present
in the population.
 Trends in heritability
 High heritability (> 0.4)

-Carcass/ Product traits: stature, length of limbs

(related to skeletal dimensions)

 Moderate heritability (0.2- 0.4)

- Production traits: milk production, growth rate

 Low heritability (< 0.2)

- fitness traits- number of off-springs

(related to fertility and survivability)
Heritability

 It is an estimate not a fixed value.

 It is a property of population not individuals.
 It is defined for a specific population.
 It is defined for a specific environment.