I. Specific Aims More than 25% of all mammals in the world are considered “threatened” with half of all species showing a downward trend in population and others considered extinct outside of captivity (International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2008 Red List of Threatened Species). This is true despite the numerous traditional conservation strategies that have been employed includin...

Despite a favorable business model, genomic selection is still not a popular tool for genetic improvement of Nelore cattle in Brazil mainly due to the lack of a costeffective strategy for its application. Different independent Nelore breeding programs have already developed prediction equations for usual and difficult/expensive to measure traits. Unfortunately, some programs are using genomic p...

Biofortification of staple crops like potato via breeding is an attractive strategy to reduce human micronutrient deficiencies. A prerequisite is metabolic phenotyping of genetically diverse material which can potentially be used as parents in breeding programs. Thus, the natural genetic diversity of thiamin and folate contents was investigated in indigenous cultivated potatoes (Solanum tuberos...

Implementation of genomic selection in sheep breeding provides a number of challenges, compared to dairy cattle, because of the higher genetic diversity between and within sheep breeds, the cost of maintaining reference populations and the limited ability of individual breeders to invest in genotyping. Within this study, we compare theoretical and realized genomic prediction accuracies for trai...

The reported narrow genetic base of cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum) can be expanded by the introgression of many related species with large genetic diversity. The analysis of the genetic structure of a potato population is important to broaden the genetic base of breeding programs by the identification of different genetic pools. A panel composed by 231 diverse genotypes was characterized...

pyramiding genes related to grain quality and resistance through marker assisted selection (mas) is an important approach in rice breeding programs. marker-assisted selection can be used for monitoring the presence or absence of these genes in breeding populations and can be combined with conventional breeding approaches. this study is a part of cultivar development program in iran through inte...

The genetic diversity and genetic structure of three Chinese silkworm species Bombyx mori L., Antheraea pernyi Guérin-Meneville and Samia cynthia ricini Donovan were comparatively assessed based on RAPD markers. At the species level, A. pernyi and B. mori showed high levels of genetic diversity, whereas S. cynthia ricini showed low level of genetic diversity. However, at the strain level, A. pe...

Information on genetic diversity and population structure of elite wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) breeding lines promotes effective use of genetic resources. We analyzed 205 elite wheat breeding lines from major winter wheat breeding programs in the USA using 245 markers across the wheat genomes. This collection showed a high level of genetic diversity as refl ected by allele number per locus (7....

Chickpea is the second most important legume crop largely grown under semi-arid tropics where terminal drought is one of the major constraints for its productivity. A trait-based selection had been considered more beneficial in drought tolerance breeding to overcome the environmental influence on drought yields. Large number of traits had been suggested in literature, with less indication on th...