Combining pedigree and genomic information to improve prediction quality: an example in sorghum.

Combining pedigree and genomic information to improve prediction quality: an example in sorghum. Theor Appl Genet. 2019 Apr 09;: Authors: Velazco JG, Malosetti M, Hunt CH, Mace ES, Jordan DR, van Eeuwijk FA Abstract KEY MESSAGE: The use of a kinship matrix integrating pedigree- and marker-based relationships optimized the performance of genomic prediction in sorghum, especially for traits of lower heritability. Selection based on genome-wide markers has become an active breeding strategy in crops. Genomic prediction models can make use of pedigree information to account for the residual polygenic effects not captured by markers. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of using pedigree and genomic information on prediction quality of breeding values for different traits in sorghum. We explored BLUP models that use weighted combinations of pedigree and genomic relationship matrices. The optimal weighting factor was empirically determined in order to maximize predictive ability after evaluating a range of candidate weights. The phenotypic data consisted of testcross evaluations of sorghum parental lines across multiple environments. All lines were genotyped, and full pedigree information was available. The performance of the best predictive combined matrix was compared to that of models fitting the component matrices independently. Model performance was assessed using cross-validation technique. Fitting a combined pedigree-genomic matrix wi...
Source: TAG. Theoretical and Applied Genetics - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Tags: Theor Appl Genet Source Type: research