SELECTION

AMITOSH K
SAXENA
 SELECTION

• Selection is choosing parents of the next generation

• Selection is the process in which certain individuals in a population are

given an opportunity to produce offspring while others are denied this
opportunity

• Selection in animal breeding concerns itself with differential rate of

reproduction within a population, whereby animals with some characters
tend to have more offspring than animals without those characters

• Breeders can change the genetic properties of the population through

(1) Selection (choice of individuals to be bred as parents) and (2) Mating
system (control of the way in which parents are mated)

• Combination of selection and mating systems constitutes a breeding plan

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 Breeding plan

Selection Mating system

Natural Artificial Random Non-random

selection selection mating mating

Based on Based on
phenotypic genetic
resemblance resemblance

Positive Negative
assortative assortative Inbreeding Out breeding
mating mating

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 GENETIC EFFECTS OF SELECTION

• Selection does not create new genes but only sorts the existing genes

• By selection we allow those animals possessing favourable genes to

reproduce and those individuals with undesirable genes are discarded

• Selection increases the frequency of desirable genes and decreases the

frequency of undesirable genes in a population

• If the frequency of desirable gene is increased, the proportion of

individuals homozygous for that desirable gene is also increased

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 TYPES OF SLECTION

• Selection is of two kinds: (1) Natural selection and (2) Artificial selection
Natural Selection
• Natural selection is influenced by nature and not by man
• Main force responsible for natural selection is “survival of the fittest” in
a particular environment
• It operates through fertility among the parents and viability among their
progeny
• Natural selection is a very complicate process and many factors determine
the proportion of individuals that will reproduce
• The factors are (1) differences in degree of fertility of individuals in that
population, (2) differences in mortality in the population especially in early
life, (3) differences in the duration and degree of sexual activity and (4)
differences in the lifetime of different individuals
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 TYPES OF SLECTION

Artificial Selection
• Artificial selection is the selection practised by man

• Artificial selection can be defined as the efforts of man to increase the

frequency of desirable genes by locating or saving those individuals with
superior performance

• It may differ from natural selection both in intensity and direction

• This merely sorts genes and permits the better ones to be saved and the
poorer ones to be discarded

• Artificial selection has two aspects viz. replacement selection and culling

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 TYPES OF SLECTION
Artificial Selection (Contd...)
• In replacement selection, we decide which individuals will become parents for
the first time (new animals selected to replace the existing parents that have
been culled are called replacements)
• Culling is the process of removal of poor / inferior animals from the breeding
population and it decides which parents will no longer remain parents
• It is easy to cull poor looking stock but genetically this achieves little if they are
poor because of environmental reasons. E.g., in dairy cows, high yielder will be
thin and poor looking and dry cows will be fatty
• Selection and culling go together and they are really just different sides of the
same coin. They involve different sets of animals, but their purpose is the same
• Artificial selection is aptly called as the “Keystone of the arch” of the animal
breeding
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 COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION

• Selection is carried out for a variety of traits in different species. For e.g.,
speed in race horses, milk yield in dairy cattle, litter size in swine, wool
yield in sheep, market weight in goats and egg production in poultry
• In farm animals selection should always be directed to greater utility
• Selection is not a simple task to produce immediate results
• Selection is also not always successful
• If selection were always being effective, the animal breeders’ problems
would be largely resolved
• Failures of selection dampen the enthusiasm of many people engaged in
animal breeding
• Complications of selection can be classified into two :
(1) Genetic complications and (2) Operational complications

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 COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
• Genetic complications of selection
(1) Heredity and environment
(2) Genotype and phenotype
(3) Heritability
(4) Type of gene action
(5) Correlation of traits
(6) Effects of inbreeding
(7) Regression to the mean (Galton’s Law of Filial Regression)
• Operational complications of selection
(1) Objectives in selection
(2) Number of traits
(3) Foundation stock
(4) Level of performance
(5) Systems of selection
(6) Length of time
(7) Number of animals
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 GENETIC COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
1. Heredity and environment
• Most traits of economic importance are controlled by many genes and are
greatly influenced by environment
• Environment may alter the traits so as to mask the real genetic worth of
the individuals
• For example, an animal with a faster growth rate raised on faulty
environment (deficient diet) and an animal with poor genetic constitution
for rate of growth but raised in a good environment can be responsible for
mistakes in selection
• Environmental effect could be overcome by keeping the stock under
selection in a standard and suitable environment wherein the better
genotype will be able to express itself fully
• Breeder will have a chance to recognise the differences that are hereditary
and thus increase the accuracy of selection
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 GENETIC COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
2. Genotype and phenotype
• Genotype is animal’s genetic constitution
• Genotype remains constant for an animal throughout its life
• Phenotype is the result of interaction between the genotype and environment
in which the animal is living
• Phenotype unlike the genotype changes with time. Hence it affects selection
• Selection is done for the genotype but seldom could it be assessed correctly
• Genotype is assessed based on phenotype of the individual though it is not
accurate
• Performance also varies with the age of the individual
• Selection should be done at the market age when the economic traits show up
in meat animals like sheep, swine and poultry. Cows should be selected at the
end of first lactation
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 GENETIC COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
3. Heritability
• Selection processes are based on phenotypic differences. Though we are selecting on
phenotypic basis, our aim is to effect genotypic basis
• If the phenotype accurately reflects the genotype, the selection will be quite accurate;
but phenotype is not the true indicator of genotype
• Heritability of a trait may be defined as “that portion of the phenotypic variation that is
due to additive gene action”
• If most of the phenotypic variation is due to environment , progress from selection will
be slow
• If the additive genetic variation is larger, the heritability estimate will more accurately
predict the genotype
• Heritability values are not constant and vary from herd to herd and in the same herd
from time to time
• Inbreeding increases homozygosity of genes and reduces the hereditary variation and
hence the heritability
• Knowledge of heritability of economic traits in livestock is essential for breeder
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 GENETIC COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
4. Type of gene action

• Genes act differently in different combinations. This makes selection more

difficult
• For example, when “A” is dominant to “a”, AA and Aa individuals who have the
same phenotype will be selected with equal preference. But AA will breed true
whereas Aa will segregate
• In case of over dominance, Aa will produce larger effect than AA / aa; so in
heterozygous condition selection will not produce desired results
• Only crossing of appropriate inbred lines will produce the desired effect
• Job of the breeder is to increase the frequency of favourable alleles and to
discard the less favourable ones

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 GENETIC COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
5. Correlation of traits

• Some characteristics are positively correlated; for example, rate of gain in

weight and efficiency of gain in swine
• Some others are negatively correlated; for example, milk yield and fat % in
dairy cattle
• If the desirable traits are positively correlated, selection becomes somewhat
easier; if you select for one trait the other trait automatically improves
• For traits with negative correlation, selection for one trait will affect the other
trait
• Knowledge of correlation of different traits will be of great help in avoiding
mistakes in selection

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 GENETIC COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
6. Effect of inbreeding

• It is generally known that a decline in vigour usually accompanies inbreeding

• Breeders therefore hesitate to practise inbreeding
• It is necessary to practise inbreeding in order to induce gene segregation and
to fix desirable gene combinations
• Inbreeding increases prepotency
• Regularity of transmission is increased with increased homozygosity that is
obtained only through inbreeding and selection
• To avoid depressing effects of inbreeding (i) choose foundation stock that is
superior in production, (ii) rigid selection from beginning to offset the
possible bad effects of inbreeding on performance and (iii) flexible system of
mating that permits mating of best individuals, i.e. controlled breeding
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 GENETIC COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
7. Regression to mean

• Offspring of outstanding parents often have a tendency to regress towards the

average of the breed. This is referred to as Galton’s Law of Filial Regression

• The superiority of outstanding parents may be due to (a) suitable combination

of genes and type of gene action and (b) a satisfactory environment

• Regression of offspring to mean may be due to (1) combination of genes

(when they reproduce due to segregation and independent assortment of
genes, the suitable combination is broken up and the average results) and
(2) environment (the regression may also be due to the environment where in
the offspring are bought which is much different from that of parent)

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 OPERATIONAL COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
1. Objectives of selection

• Many failures in selection of livestock may be attributed to a lack of definite

objectives

• Lack of objectives will change the selection direction frequently

• Selection will be more effective when the breeder has definite objectives

• Objective should be defined by measurements

• Judgment should be used along with measurements, but should never replace
measurements

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 OPERATIONAL COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
2. Number of traits

• When a single trait is subjected to selection it is very simple to rank the

individuals in order of their merit for the trait

• This becomes increasingly difficult as the number of trait is increased

• An animal may be good in one trait but deficient in another

• Only a few individuals will be good in all the characters that are under
selection

• To simplify this problem, the number of traits must be kept as small as

possible and must be those with greatest value from the stand of utility

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 OPERATIONAL COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
3. Foundation stock

• Selection will be ineffective if the foundation animals are genetically poor and
also where there is no genetic variability

• Selection merely sorts genes and permits the better ones to be saved and
poorer ones to be discarded

• It is important to start with good foundation stock

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 OPERATIONAL COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
4. Level of performance

• Selection will be effective for the first few generations and then it becomes
ineffective for further progress

• When the level of performance rises after a few years, due to increased
homozygosity and frequency of desirable genes, further progress is slow,
unless it is accompanied by a system of mating that will bring about new
gene combinations

• For example, artificial insemination is used as a tool for increase in milk

production. The improvement will be achieved in few generations and
afterwards the progress is less and less. It does not mean that the sire used is
inferior, but the level of performance of the herd has become higher

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 OPERATIONAL COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
5. System of selection

• Too much rigidity in selection may be a handicap to progress in animal

breeding programme

• For example, a breeder may specify that no cows should be selected with the
lactation yield less than 2000 kg. But only few cows will be available and after
few years very few animals will reach the standard

• A selection index giving relative importance to each trait is good. But the
importance of the trait at that particular time should be taken into
consideration for selecting the trait

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 OPERATIONAL COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
6. Length of time

• Turnover in livestock is slow in number of animals and in number of

generations because small herds or flocks offer so little opportunity for genetic
segregation

• Breeder must be prepared to continue his project for a relatively longer period
of time

• Progress in a single generation is apt to be masked by environmental effect

and it takes many years to turn over several generations in large animals

• Although progress per year is small, real improvement can be effected over
a long period of time

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 OPERATIONAL COMPLICATIONS OF SELECTION
7. Number of animals

• Where there are few animals in the herd, selection is very much restricted

• Selection pressure will be applied effectively since it will cull most of the
animals leaving few that will not be able to replace the stock

• Also there will be little opportunity for genetic segregation

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