Evaluation of the potential for genomic selection in an Irish breeding population of sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr))
Cashell, Ronan
Cashell, Ronan
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2024-10-07
Type
doctoral thesis
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Abstract
Genomic selection is a form of breeding predicting for phenotypic traits within a population, using allelic data drawn from individuals within this population as the explanatory variable. Genomic selection has been widely evaluated within livestock and crop species, and is now an established part of breeding endeavours within such species. In the era of increasingly cheaper whole-genomic sequencing strategies, the potential for genomic selection is increasingly being investigated in more niche species with features that otherwise discourage evaluation such as long generational intervals or particularly large genomes. Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is one such species, yet equally is also one of great importance to Irish forestry. Efforts to breed Sitka spruce in Ireland have been have resulted in a national breeding program, but have not yet attempted to incorporate any of the recent advances regarding genetic and genomic breeding. In this thesis, I investigated the the potential for genomic selection among the Irish breeding population of Sitka spruce. I evaluated the suitability of phenotypic data generated from the breeding program for the used as traits of interest within a genomic selection model. Comparing the historical data of the program to contemporary data, I investigated the assumptions of correlation of the genetic control of a traits across different ages which underpins breeding in many long-lived species. Combining the available phenotypic data of the breeding program, derived from families of half-siblings, with genomic data generated from their maternal parent through Genotype-by-Sequencing, I explored the potential for genomic selection in Irish Sitka spruce with respect to the nature of these data. Finally, using a sub-population of full-siblings derived from the breeding program's genotypes, I examined the effectiveness of genomic selection against more conventional breeding methods such pedigree-based breeding. In totality, this thesis demonstrates a clear potential for viable genomic selection in the Irish Sitka spruce breeding population as is, and highlights opportunities for changes to current practices which would further improve genomic selection within this population.
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University of Galway
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International