Performance of four genomic selection methods using different heritability and QTL numbers

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate how heritability and the number of quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling the trait can influence the prediction of genetic value by genomic selection methods. A prediction equation was established to estimate genetic correlation based on phenotypic correlation, using an F2 population with 1,000 individuals, simulated in different scenarios. Heritability (5, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 99%) and QTL number (60, 120, 180, and 240) varied in each scenario. The following four genomic selection methods were used in the analyses: ridge-regression best linear unbiased prediction (RR-BLUP), genomic BLUP (GBLUP), Bayesian estimation method B (Bayes B), and reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces regression (RKHS). The phenotypic and genotypic predictive abilities were calculated for each method, and Tukey’s test was used to compare means. The effect of heritability and of the number of QTL controlling the trait was evaluated by the regression analysis. Tukey’s test revealed differences between the methods, with Bayes B and RR-BLUP being superior to the others in almost all scenarios. Heritability presents a positive linear relationship with phenotypic predictive ability and a positive quadratic relationship with genotypic predictive ability. The number of QTL controlling the trait has no relationship with the phenotypic and genotypic predictive abilities.