What is breeding value?

What is breeding value?

• A. The value of an animal's genes to itself
• B. The value an animal's genes to its progeny
• C. The environmental contributions to phenotype
• D. The average phenotype of the population

Answer: (B)

Breeding value is the heritable, additive portion of an animal’s genetic merit that can be passed on to its offspring. It represents the average effect of the animal’s genes on its progeny’s performance, regardless of the environment the offspring are raised in. In other words, it’s what the parent contributes genetically to its kids, not just how it itself performs or what the environment adds. This value is the part breeders target when predicting how well offspring will do and is often estimated as progeny-based statistics or genomic breeding values. So the correct idea is that the animal’s genes contribute to its progeny’s phenotype, and the breeding value captures that transmitted genetic influence. It’s not about the animal’s own phenotype or about environmental contributions, and it’s specifically the additive, heritable portion rather than the total genotype including non-additive effects.

Breeding value is the heritable, additive portion of an animal’s genetic merit that can be passed on to its offspring. It represents the average effect of the animal’s genes on its progeny’s performance, regardless of the environment the offspring are raised in. In other words, it’s what the parent contributes genetically to its kids, not just how it itself performs or what the environment adds. This value is the part breeders target when predicting how well offspring will do and is often estimated as progeny-based statistics or genomic breeding values.

So the correct idea is that the animal’s genes contribute to its progeny’s phenotype, and the breeding value captures that transmitted genetic influence. It’s not about the animal’s own phenotype or about environmental contributions, and it’s specifically the additive, heritable portion rather than the total genotype including non-additive effects.