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Selection opportunities and maintaining genetic diversity in local pig breeds

Breeding programmes in autochthonous pig populations are usually oriented to conservation goals. Selection for economically important traits in such populations can be beneficial for competitiveness of the breed. Autochthonous pig breeds are often characterized by low genetic diversity, and selection in such population becomes demanding. Availability of data and low costs make best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) the method of choice for selection in conserved populations. Natural mating is dominant in populations of autochthonous breeds, and the consequence of that is the low level of connectedness which makes the comparison of estimated breeding values across herds unreliable. Managing the level of connectedness is dependent on pedigree data quality. Various methods have been developed in order to optimize genetic gain and the level of inbreeding in the population using optimal contribution selection (OCS) framework. OCS is an optimisation of genetic contributions of selection candidates to the next generation such that expected benefit and risks are balanced. A common way to achieve this goal is to maximise genetic gain at a predefined rate of population inbreeding by restricting selection of candidates that are closely related. Pedigree or marker data can be used for that purpose. By the application of OCS genetic, progress can be achieved, that is almost as great as that with truncation selection based on BLUP breeding. Thus, conservation and selection goals can be optimised by the control of the level of connectedness and application of OCS procedures.

selection, genetic diversity, breeds, conservation

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