Genomic Diversity Value
Breeding - Inbreeding and Diversity
The genomic diversity value developed by generatio enables the balance between targeted consolidation of breed characteristics and the widest possible diversity within the breed population.
The starting point of all breeds with characteristic traits is targeted inbreeding. The first animals with the desired characteristics were crossed with each other and a basic population of the breed was created through continued inbreeding, supplemented by crosses.
By continuously concentrating on the breed-typical traits when approving breeding animals in subsequent generations, the new breed was able to establish itself as such.
Preserving Breed Health
Breed preservation must combine two strategies that actually hinder each other:
- For the consolidation of the breed characteristics, inbreeding is the method of choice. Depending on the intensity, it effectively leads to the purebred (homozygous) presence of the respective hereditary traits, so that they become effective in the offspring (prepotency).
- This collides with the goal of using as broad a genetic base of breeding animals as possible in order to maintain the fitness (health robustness) of the population through the most pronounced genetic diversity possible. In contrast to breed traits, fitness reduces with increasing homozygosity and ultimately leads to inbreeding depression.
With knowledge of the individual diversity value of a breeding animal, this can be taken into account in the selection of mating pairs.
Calculate Generatio Diversity Value (GRV)
The calculation is based on the DNA markers that are distributed over the genome. Their expression shows how the genomic background of the examined animal is to be classified in comparison to the population mean.
This calculation is only possible for pedigree dogs and requires a base population of 200 animals whose calculated inbreeding coefficient is as low as possible.