Trait-specific long-term consequences of genomic selection in beef cattle

Abstract

Simulation studies allow addressing consequences of selection schemes, helping to identify effective strategies to enable genetic gain and maintain genetic diversity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term impact of genomic selection (GS) in genetic progress and genetic diversity of beef cattle. Forward-in-time simulation generated a population with pattern of linkage disequilibrium close to that previously reported for real beef cattle populations. Different scenarios of GS and traditional pedigree-based BLUP (PBLUP) selection were simulated for 15 generations, mimicking selection for female reproduction and meat quality. For GS scenarios, an alternative selection criterion was simulated (wGBLUP), intended to enhance long-term gains by attributing more weight to favorable alleles with low frequency. GS allowed genetic progress up to 40% greater than PBLUP, for female reproduction and meat quality. The alternative criterion wGBLUP did not increase long-term response, although allowed reducing inbreeding rates and loss of favorable alleles. The results suggest that GS outperforms PBLUP when the selected trait is under less polygenic background and that attributing more weight to low-frequency favorable alleles can reduce inbreeding rates and loss of favorable alleles in GS.