Explain how the inbreeding coefficient can be thought of as both a probability and a correlation.
What is the genetic result of inbreeding? How might inbreeding lead to somewhat different results in very large vs very small populations?
Describe how inbreeding depression and heterosis are, fundamentally, the same phenomenon.
Using two locus models, illustrate the difference between 3 situations:1. no inbreeding depression, 2. inbreeding depression that is linear with F, 3. inbreeding depression that is non-linear with F.
Describe the idealized population
At any one point in the life of a breeding population, describe the two different sources of inbreeding.
Explain the concept of effective population size
How does altering the male to female ratio affect the effective population size?
How does altering the variance of family size affect the effective population size?
What is meant by the concept of "maximum avoidance"?
Describe the genetic structure of the Shorthorn breed that lead to average inbreeding coefficients in excess of .25 by the beginning of the 20th century.
Describe the concept of heterosis.
Describe how one would estimate heterosis, breed direct effects and breed maternal effects in a two breed diallel cross.
What is the genetic basis for recombination effects? Why are they generally referred to as "recombination loss"?
Explain why there is 6/7 expected heterosis in a 3 breed rotational crossbreeding system
Describe the general characteristics of the rotaterminal crossbreeding system as it might be used in swine production.
Why would one want to use one of the following for a foundation herd size when starting a composite breed?
|
males |
females |
|
27 |
338 |
|
28 |
234 |
|
29 |
182 |
|
30 |
150 |
|
31 |
130 |
|
32 |
115 |
Describe ways to build breeds with the following:
5/8A:3/8B
3/8A:3/8B:1/4C
5/16A:5/16B:3/16C:3/16D
Following formation of a new breed, what happens to heterosis? Explain.
What is the relationship between the number of breeds (and proportions) in a composite and the amount of retained heterozygocity?
Describe the three major types of cattle in the world. Give some examples of each.
Describe the general experimental design of the Germ Plasm Evaluation project.
What was the purpose of the implementation of inbred line development in beef cattle research programs? What have been some of the results of that research?
What was the design of the experiment that estimated maternal heterosis effects in Hereford, Shorthorn and Angus cattle?
Describe the makeup of the composite breeds in the composite breed experiment at USMARC.
What is meant by the comparison of expected to observed heterosis in advanced generations in the composite breed experiment at USMARC?
What is a "microsatellite"?
What are the objectives of the National Animal Genome Research Program?
Describe the benefits of comparative mapping.
What is the difference between a linkage map and a physical or cytogenetic map?
What is a genetic marker, how is one found and what do genetic markers contribute to our understanding of the genome map for a species?
What is a quantitative trait locus? How would one determine the location of a quantitative trait locus?
Describe the circumstances in which marker assisted selection might be especially helpful.
Explain the sources of advantage that could arise from marker assisted selection.
Explain the process for developing a transgenic animal.
What are some reasons that transgenesis in livestock, as a way to improve efficiency of production, has not been as successful as first expected?
Describe the process used to develop "Dolly".
Will a set of clones perform alike? Why or why not?
What is xenotransplantation?
Describe the three approaches recommended for conservation of livestock genetic resources.
What is a criollo breed? What are some examples?
Describe the process used to identify QTL in swine in the papers by the scientists at MARC.
What are indigenous breeds and why are so many becoming endangered?
Why is transgenesis not presently considered to be an effective tool for livestock improvement?