In order to further characterize a rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) model of SLE, we investigated the expression of BAFF and its receptors in non-inbred, pedigreed rabbits derived from breeding and selection based on autoantibody responses.
The breeding community has always relied on selections based on phenotyping i.e., pod yield achieved under drought stress in a specific environment.
The closing of the studbook brought about additional purebred breeding and selection based on conformation, color and working ability.
If these populations were derived from a limited number of parents, high LD between markers and QTL alleles should persist for several cycles of selection, allowing increased genetic gain through acceleration of the breeding cycle with selection based on GEBV alone.
Pre- selection of sires is as for truncated dams with the added restriction that 0.5, 1, 5, 10, and 25% of the male candidates were pre-selected by truncation selection based on breeding value before OCS.
As the heritability of the hip score was on the low end (0.21) of reported ranges, we propose that selection based on breeding values will result in more rapid genetic improvement than breeding based on phenotypic selection alone.
The reference breeding scheme was based on phenotyping 13 770 candidates per year for trait 1 and 270 sibs of candidates per year for trait 2, with selection based on pedigree-based BLUP estimated breeding values.
Although further improvements are required for large-scale commercial production, the broodstock domestication and selective breeding, including a DNA marker-assisted selection based on quantitative trait loci (QTLs), is now within reach.
In real data from dairy bulls, optimal contribution selection based on genomic estimated breeding values allowed for additional improvements in genetic merit at low to moderate inbreeding levels.
When the generation interval cannot be reduced with genomic selection, large reference populations are required to obtain a similar response to that with selection based on BLUP estimated breeding values based on own performance or progeny information.
