Records on groups of individuals could be valuable for predicting breeding values when a trait is difficult or costly to measure on single individuals, such as feed intake and egg production. Adding genomic information has shown improvement in the accuracy of genetic evaluation of quantitative traits with individual records. Here, we investigated the value of genomic information for traits with group records. Besides, we investigated the improvement in accuracy of genetic evaluation for group-recorded traits when including information on a correlated trait with individual records. The study was based on a simulated pig population, including three scenarios of group structure and size. The results showed that both the genomic information and a correlated trait increased the accuracy of estimated breeding values (EBVs) for traits with group records. The accuracies of EBV obtained from group records with a size 24 were much lower than those with a size 12. Random assignment of animals to pens led to lower accuracy due to the weaker relationship between individuals within each group. It suggests that group records are valuable for genetic evaluation of a trait that is difficult to record on individuals, and the accuracy of genetic evaluation can be considerably increased using genomic information. Moreover, the genetic evaluation for a trait with group records can be greatly improved using a bivariate model, including correlated traits that are recorded individually. For efficient use of group records in genetic evaluation, relatively small group size and close relationships between individuals within one group are recommended.

中文翻译：

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预测组记录性状的育种值，包括基因组信息和单独记录的相关性状

当单个个体的性状难以或成本高昂时，例如采食量和产蛋量，个体群体的记录对于预测育种价值可能很有价值。添加基因组信息已显示出通过个体记录对数量性状进行遗传评估的准确性有所提高。在这里，我们研究了基因组信息对具有组记录的性状的价值。此外，我们还研究了在将相关性状信息与个体记录包括在内时，对群体记录性状的遗传评估准确性的提高。该研究基于模拟猪群，包括群体结构和规模的三种情景。结果表明，基因组信息和相关性状都提高了具有组记录的性状估计育种值 (EBV) 的准确性。从大小为 24 的组记录中获得的 EBV 的准确性远低于大小为 12 的 EBV。由于每组内个体之间的关系较弱，将动物随机分配到围栏导致准确性降低。这表明群体记录对于难以在个体上记录的性状的遗传评估很有价值，并且使用基因组信息可以显着提高遗传评估的准确性。此外，使用双变量模型（包括单独记录的相关性状）可以极大地改进具有组记录的性状的遗传评估。为了在遗传评估中有效地使用群体记录，建议使用相对较小的群体规模和一个群体内个体之间的密切关系。