SelAction

SelAction predicts responses to selection and rates of inbreeding in livestock breeding programs to evaluate and optimize breeding strategies across discrete and overlapping generation structures.

Key Features:

• Predictive capabilities: Predicts selection responses and rates of inbreeding for livestock improvement.
• Input requirements: Requires variance components as input to evaluate breeding program designs.
• Discrete generation support: Supports discrete generations (e.g., fish or poultry).
• Overlapping generation support: Handles overlapping generations (e.g., pig or cattle).
• Selection schemes: Predicts responses for multistage selection schemes and estimates inbreeding rates with single-stage selection.
• Genetic variance considerations: Accounts for the Bulmer effect (reduction of genetic variance due to selection).
• Finite population effects: Considers reductions in selection intensity due to finite population sizes and correlated index values among family members.
• BLUP breeding values: Utilizes Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP) breeding values as information sources.
• Trait capacity: Supports analysis of up to 20 traits.
• Computational approach: Employs deterministic simulation to reduce computation time.

Scientific Applications:

• Selection response prediction: Predicts genetic gain and inbreeding trajectories under specified selection schemes.
• Breeding program design evaluation: Compares alternative program designs for discrete and overlapping generations.
• Multistage and single-stage selection assessment: Evaluates multistage selection schemes and single-stage selection impacts on response and inbreeding.
• Genetic variance and finite population analysis: Assesses effects of the Bulmer effect and finite population-correlated index values on long-term genetic variance.

Methodology:

Deterministic simulation implementing selection index theory, modeling the Bulmer effect, multistage and overlapping-generation selection methods, use of BLUP breeding values, and published methods for predicting inbreeding rates.