Direction of selection and breeding work on the formation of a new competitive factory type of yorkshire pigs using and genetic techniques and methods

Abstract

For modern domestic breeding programs to be implemented, population genetic techniques and methods must be applied in order to create new types of lines with superior performance characteristics, the use of which will contribute to the efficient pedigree livestock farming. Genomic selection use in domestic breeding programs accelerates genetic progress in herds by determining the breeding value of animals at an early age, and thereby contributes to the development of local animal husbandry and to the reduction of dependence on imports of foreign pedigree material. The article contains the data of the studies that were aimed at forming breeding herds of a new competitive factory type of Yorkshire pigs with the use of genetic techniques and methods. The study included the analysis of productivity marker genes and DNA testing by microsatellite markers of the initial genotypes. It was found that in the populations, young animals with preferred genotypes outperformed their peers in productive traits by 1.95–42.3 % (p ≤ 0.05). The use of the DNA-MS analysis of the animals tested at basic breeding enterprises allowed determining their genetic affiliation with the Belarusian population of the Yorkshire breed on the basis of the genetic distance and allele frequency in the loci under study that were in the range 5.665–11.084.