BALANCING SELECTION RESPONSE AND INBREEDING BY INCLUDING PREDICTED STABILIZED GENETIC CONTRIBUTIONS IN SELECTION DECISIONS

A selection strategy is investigated which should improve upon methodo logy previously introduced for reducing inbreeding by including geneti c relationships in selection decisions. The new strategy includes pred ictions of stabilised genetic contributions of parents to descendants in selection decisions. An additive infinitesimal genetic model is ass umed with discrete generations of selection and random mating of selec ted parents. Stochastic simulation is used to compare rates of inbreed ing and genetic gain from the strategy using relationships with those from the strategy using predicted genetic contributions. The latter st rategy gives slightly higher genetic gain at a given level of cumulate inbreeding, but the advantage is small, and the calculations are more complex and difficult to apply in practice, and therefore the previou s strategy using relationships is more useful for practical applicatio n.