Abstract
Pedigree information on 37,459 sheep of the Segureña breed was used to evaluate population structure, genetic variability and the inbreeding effect on growth traits. The relation between the effective number of founders/ancestors (1.12) indicates that the founding animals contributed throughout the entire breed-forming process. The low values obtained for inbreeding (0.60%) and average relatedness coefficients (0.06%) indicate genetic variability; however, these results might be related to the low pedigree depth observed through the number of equivalent generations (1.23). Fixation indices (F-statistic) and the absence of nucleus herds indicate that, despite the intense use of some rams, population subdivision was not observed in the breed (FST=0.0183). Inbreeding depression was not observed on evaluated growth traits, with environmental factors, year-season-herd, type of birth and sex as primarily responsible for the observed variation.
Published Version
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