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Yadav S, Ross EM, Wei X, Powell O, Hivert V, Hickey LT, Atkin F, Deomano E, Aitken KS, Voss-Fels KP, Hayes BJ. Optimising clonal performance in sugarcane: leveraging non-additive effects via mate-allocation strategies. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1260517. [PMID: 38023905 PMCID: PMC10667552 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1260517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Mate-allocation strategies in breeding programs can improve progeny performance by harnessing non-additive genetic effects. These approaches prioritise predicted progeny merit over parental breeding value, making them particularly appealing for clonally propagated crops such as sugarcane. We conducted a comparative analysis of mate-allocation strategies, exploring utilising non-additive and heterozygosity effects to maximise clonal performance with schemes that solely consider additive effects to optimise breeding value. Using phenotypic and genotypic data from a population of 2,909 clones evaluated in final assessment trials of Australian sugarcane breeding programs, we focused on three important traits: tonnes of cane per hectare (TCH), commercial cane sugar (CCS), and Fibre. By simulating families from all possible crosses (1,225) with 50 progenies each, we predicted the breeding and clonal values of progeny using two models: GBLUP (considering additive effects only) and extended-GBLUP (incorporating additive, non-additive, and heterozygosity effects). Integer linear programming was used to identify the optimal mate-allocation among selected parents. Compared to breeding value-based approaches, mate-allocation strategies based on clonal performance yielded substantial improvements, with predicted progeny values increasing by 57% for TCH, 12% for CCS, and 16% for fibre. Our simulation study highlights the effectiveness of mate-allocation approaches that exploit non-additive and heterozygosity effects, resulting in superior clonal performance. However, there was a notable decline in additive gain, particularly for TCH, likely due to significant epistatic effects. When selecting crosses based on clonal performance for TCH, the inbreeding coefficient of progeny was significantly lower compared to random mating, underscoring the advantages of leveraging non-additive and heterozygosity effects in mitigating inbreeding depression. Thus, mate-allocation strategies are recommended in clonally propagated crops to enhance clonal performance and reduce the negative impacts of inbreeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seema Yadav
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Elizabeth M. Ross
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Xianming Wei
- Sugar Research Australia, Mackay, QLD, Australia
| | - Owen Powell
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Valentin Hivert
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Lee T. Hickey
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Felicity Atkin
- Sugar Research Australia, Meringa Gordonvale, QLD, Australia
| | - Emily Deomano
- Sugar Research Australia, Indooroopilly, QLD, Australia
| | - Karen S. Aitken
- Agriculture and Food, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Brisbane, QlD, Australia
| | - Kai P. Voss-Fels
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Department of Grapevine Breeding, Hochschule Geisenheim University, Geisenheim, Germany
| | - Ben J. Hayes
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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Cros D, Sánchez L, Cochard B, Samper P, Denis M, Bouvet JM, Fernández J. Estimation of genealogical coancestry in plant species using a pedigree reconstruction algorithm and application to an oil palm breeding population. TAG. THEORETICAL AND APPLIED GENETICS. THEORETISCHE UND ANGEWANDTE GENETIK 2014; 127:981-994. [PMID: 24504554 DOI: 10.1007/s00122-014-2273-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2013] [Accepted: 01/22/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Explicit pedigree reconstruction by simulated annealing gave reliable estimates of genealogical coancestry in plant species, especially when selfing rate was lower than 0.6, using a realistic number of markers. Genealogical coancestry information is crucial in plant breeding to estimate genetic parameters and breeding values. The approach of Fernández and Toro (Mol Ecol 15:1657-1667, 2006) to estimate genealogical coancestries from molecular data through pedigree reconstruction was limited to species with separate sexes. In this study it was extended to plants, allowing hermaphroditism and monoecy, with possible selfing. Moreover, some improvements were made to take previous knowledge on the population demographic history into account. The new method was validated using simulated and real datasets. Simulations showed that accuracy of estimates was high with 30 microsatellites, with the best results obtained for selfing rates below 0.6. In these conditions, the root mean square error (RMSE) between the true and estimated genealogical coancestry was small (<0.07), although the number of ancestors was overestimated and the selfing rate could be biased. Simulations also showed that linkage disequilibrium between markers and departure from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the founder population did not affect the efficiency of the method. Real oil palm data confirmed the simulation results, with a high correlation between the true and estimated genealogical coancestry (>0.9) and a low RMSE (<0.08) using 38 markers. The method was applied to the Deli oil palm population for which pedigree data were scarce. The estimated genealogical coancestries were highly correlated (>0.9) with the molecular coancestries using 100 markers. Reconstructed pedigrees were used to estimate effective population sizes. In conclusion, this method gave reliable genealogical coancestry estimates. The strategy was implemented in the software MOLCOANC 3.0.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Cros
- Genetic Improvement and Adaptation of Mediterranean and Tropical Plants Research Unit (AGAP), CIRAD, International campus of Baillarguet, TA A-108/C, 34398, Montpellier Cedex 5, France,
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