Population structure of the Polled Nelore breed

Abstract

The population structure of the Polled Nelore breed using pedigree records from animals registered from 1969 to 1998 was described. The data file was divided in the following periods: 1979-1983, 1984-1988, 1989-1993 and 1994-1998. Descriptive statistics of the number of breeders, sires and dams were calculated. The total inbreeding increased from 0.55% to 0.98%, the inbreeding expected under random mating increased from 0.11% to 0.56%, and the inbreeding due to population subdivision was constantly around 0.45%, indicating that genetic subdivisions of the Polled Nelore breed is near to zero and quite irrelevant. The effective population size estimated from the total inbreeding was around 120. The upgrading of non-registered animals increased from 4,630 to 13,907 animals, however, this action was not enough to increase the effective population size. Based on probabilities of gene origin the effective numbers of founders, ancestors and remaining genomes were calculated. These parameters decreased over the period reaching values of 144, 98 and 64. All the estimates were analogous in the description of the population genetic structure and should be considered in developing future selection programs.