Animal Molecular Breeding 2024, Vol.14, No.1, 119-129 http://animalscipublisher.com/index.php/amb 122 Figure 1 The genes found within 50 kbp distances from the significant SNPs on chromosomes 3 (A), 4 (B), 7 (C) and 8 (D), based on BioMart tool of Ensembl (Adopted from Zamani et al., 2021) 3.2 Risks and benefits Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) offers both positive and negative effects on genetic diversity. On the positive side, MAS can accelerate the breeding process by precisely selecting for desirable traits, thereby improving productivity, disease resistance, and other economically important traits in a shorter time frame (Eze, 2019; Kumawat et al., 2020; Hasan et al., 2021). For instance, MAS has been shown to improve traits such as drought resistance in alfalfa and disease resistance in wheat (Singh et al., 2022; Shepelev et al., 2023). However, the intensive selection for specific traits using MAS can also lead to a reduction in genetic diversity. This is because the focus on a limited number of traits may result in the exclusion of other valuable genetic variations within the population (Makanjuola et al., 2020). Studies have shown that the implementation of genomic selection, a form of MAS, has led to increased rates of inbreeding and reduced effective population sizes in dairy cattle populations, highlighting the potential risks to genetic diversity (Makanjuola et al., 2020; Raina et al., 2020). Additionally, the use of MAS in tree breeding has been found to increase inbreeding and reduce genetic diversity more strongly compared to traditional breeding methods (Degen and Müller, 2023). 3.3 Strategies for maintaining diversity To mitigate the risks associated with MAS and preserve genetic diversity, several strategies can be employed. One approach is to use a broader selection of genetic markers that encompass a wider range of traits, thereby maintaining a more diverse genetic pool (Moriguchi et al., 2020). Another strategy is to implement rotational breeding schemes that periodically introduce new genetic material into the breeding population, reducing the risk of inbreeding and maintaining genetic variability (Makanjuola et al., 2020).
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