studbook information collected from 1988 to 2011 in jafarabad breeding station of moghani sheep, north-west of iran, related to 9,457 lambs were used to study the genetic diversity and to evaluate the effectiveness of an implemented rotational mating scheme using pedigree analysis. lambs born during 2009-2011 were considered as reference population. means inbreeding and average coancestry for t...

Preservation of rare genetic stocks requires continual monitoring of populations to avoid losses of genetic variability. Genetic variability can be described using genealogical and molecular parameters characterizing variation in allelic frequencies over time and providing interesting information on differentiation that occurred after the foundation of a conservation program. Here we analyze th...

This article considers a demographic model where a population varies in size either linearly or exponentially. The genealogical history of microsatellite data sampled from this population can be described using coalescent theory. A method is presented whereby the posterior probability distribution of the genealogical and demographic parameters can be estimated using Markov chain Monte Carlo sim...

Pedigree information which collected from 1979 to 2012 were used to study the genetic variability and population structure of Raeini Cashmere goat, taking kids born from 2009 to 2012 into account as reference population. Averages of inbreeding coefficients in whole and inbred populations were computed to be 0.04% and 4.41%, respectively. Considering the reference population, average inbreeding ...

Prosopis represents a valuable forest resource in arid and semiarid regions. Management of promising species requires information about genetic parameters, mainly the heritability (h(2)) of quantitative profitable traits. This parameter is traditionally estimated from progeny tests or half-sib analysis conducted in experimental stands. Such an approach estimates h(2) from the ratio of between-f...

The Arabian Horse is one of the most valued breeds in an international and historical context and has been involved in the formation of many other horse breeds. Since 2005, the Spanish Arabian Horse Breeder Association (AECCA) has developed a breeding program aimed at improving both conformation traits and endurance performance. While this selection depends on individual breeders, a population ...

Background: We introduce the software that calculates a new statistic that we call the genealogical sorting index, or gsi. This statistic quantifies the common ancestry of groups of individuals on a phylogenetic tree. The significance of an observed genealogical sorting index value is measured with permutation testing. Results: The algorithm for calculating the genealogical sorting index was wr...

Rapid sequential speciation events can outpace the fixation of genetic variants, resulting in a family tree that lacks clear branching patterns. A new study of bird genomes reveals such an explosive super-radiation that may coincide with the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period.

Maintaining genetic variation and controlling the increase in inbreeding are crucial requirements in animal conservation programs. The most widely accepted strategy for achieving these objectives is to maximize the effective population size by minimizing the global coancestry obtained from a particular pedigree. However, for most natural or captive populations genealogical information is absent...