<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Fur animal breeding has a long history. In many countries several fur animal species (including the red fox) have been recognized as livestock. The aim of this study was to estimate the pedigree parameters in the population of red fox on a Polish breeding farm. The data set consisted of information on 39 434 individuals, including 18 697 females and 20 004 males (733 animals were of unknown sex), from the years 1956–2016. The following pedigree parameters were estimated: average number of discrete generation equivalents, individual inbreeding coefficient, total and effective number of founders, effective population size, average relationship, founder genome equivalent, effective number of non-founders, and genetic diversity coefficient. The population size changed in successive years. The average inbreeding level was 5.34% for the population as a whole, and 6.04% for the inbred population. The estimated effective number of founders of the population was 84.18. The founder genome equivalent, which indicates the anticipated loss of genetic diversity caused by genetic drift, reached 9.59 in 2016 from an initial value of 34.22 in 1956. The loss of genetic diversity caused by the unequal contribution of the founder alleles did not change significantly over the years. Generally, the results indicate the good pedigree structure (including pedigree completeness) of the population studied. This implies reliable estimation of the inbreeding level, as one of the most important parameters in the genetic improvement programme.</p>
</abstract>

Fur animal breeding has a long history. In many countries several fur animal species (including the red fox) have been recognized as livestock. The aim of this study was to estimate the pedigree parameters in the population of red fox on a Polish breeding farm. The data set consisted of information on 39 434 individuals, including 18 697 females and 20 004 males (733 animals were of unknown sex), from the years 1956–2016. The following pedigree parameters were estimated: average number of discrete generation equivalents, individual inbreeding coefficient, total and effective number of founders, effective population size, average relationship, founder genome equivalent, effective number of non-founders, and genetic diversity coefficient. The population size changed in successive years. The average inbreeding level was 5.34% for the population as a whole, and 6.04% for the inbred population. The estimated effective number of founders of the population was 84.18. The founder genome equivalent, which indicates the anticipated loss of genetic diversity caused by genetic drift, reached 9.59 in 2016 from an initial value of 34.22 in 1956. The loss of genetic diversity caused by the unequal contribution of the founder alleles did not change significantly over the years. Generally, the results indicate the good pedigree structure (including pedigree completeness) of the population studied. This implies reliable estimation of the inbreeding level, as one of the most important parameters in the genetic improvement programme.

Pedigree analysis of a red fox <italic>(Vulpes vulpes)</italic> population

Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding

Wrocław University of Environmental  and Life Sciences

Annals of Animal Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Pedigree analysis of a red fox  population

Fur animal breeding has a long history. In many countries several fur animal species (including the red fox) have been recognized as livestock. The aim of this...

Pedigree analysis of a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population

Publié en ligne: 08 mai 2021

Pages: 457 - 468

Reçu: 03 janv. 2020

Accepté: 14 juil. 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoas-2020-0078

Mots clés
fur animals, genetic variability, inbreeding, pedigree completness, red fox

© 2020 Patrycja Grzybek et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Pedigree analysis of a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population

Publié en ligne: 08 mai 2021

Pages: 457 - 468

Reçu: 03 janv. 2020

Accepté: 14 juil. 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoas-2020-0078

Mots clésfur animals, genetic variability, inbreeding, pedigree completness, red fox

© 2020 Patrycja Grzybek et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Mots clés
fur animals, genetic variability, inbreeding, pedigree completness, red fox