Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
12th International Hippocrates Congress on Medical and Health Sciences, Ankara, Türkiye, 1 - 02 Eylül 2023, cilt.12, sa.259, ss.525-526
Small ruminant breeding is favored globally due to its multifaceted contributions to animal production, encompassing milk, meat, and fleece production, as well as its manageable nature that allows for higher livestock density in limited areas. While traditional selection methods have yielded certain advancements in small ruminant breeding, the adoption of modern molecular techniques lags behind that of cattle breeding. This discrepancy is largely attributed to the prevailing extensive rearing practices of small ruminants in rural areas. Nevertheless, the emergence of larger-scale intensive farming operations and the growing demand for organic products have initiated a degree of advancement in sheep and goat breeding. The utilization of genetic techniques in cattle breeding is on the rise. Presently, selection initiatives rely heavily on well-supported data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), surpassing the significance of marker-assisted selection (MAS) applications. However, it remains evident that an efficient MAS program holds considerable importance, particularly within the context of small ruminants. However, one of the key supporting features of genomic selection is that in order to relate genotypic information to phenotype, a reference population must be established in which intense phenotyping occurs for animals genetically related to the larger population. In small ruminants, limited reference population sizes, linkage disequilibrium status, multi-breed evaluations, lack of phenotype recording, marginal cost-benefit balance, and genotyping costs pose crucial problems for genomic selection. The candidate gene approach, arising from advancements in molecular genetics, has become a valuable tool for pinpointing genes with significant impacts on economically important traits in livestock, as well as for conducting quantitative trait loci (QTL) analyses and genomic selection. Considering all these factors, this study aims to evaluate the recent status of small ruminant genetics and the selection strategies and to provide insights into future prospects through a comparative analysis with genomic practices in cattle breeding.