Animal Molecular Breeding 2024, Vol.14, No.1, 45-53 http://animalscipublisher.com/index.php/amb 46 1 Genetic Background of Livestock Production Traits The study of livestock production traits is a critical aspect of the agriculture industry, directly related to the development and improvement of animal production. Understanding the genetic background of livestock production traits is crucial for achieving genetic improvement and enhancing production performance. 1.1 Definition and classification of livestock production traits Livestock production traits refer to characteristics that affect the growth, development, reproduction, and product quality of farm animals. These traits can be categorized into growth traits, reproductive traits, and product traits, among others. Growth Traits include body weight, height, and length, which are important indicators for evaluating the growth rate and body size of livestock. Reproductive Traits, such as egg production rate, fertility, and mating rate, directly influence livestock's breeding efficiency. Product Traits, such as meat quality, milk yield, and egg quality, are key factors in assessing the quality of livestock products. 1.2 Genetic background and influencing factors The expression of livestock production traits is influenced by various factors, among which genetic factors play a significant role (Li et al., 2019). The genetic background determines the variation in trait expression among individual animals, and its impact can even surpass environmental factors. The genetic background of livestock production traits mainly includes genotype and gene frequency. The genotype determines an individual's genetic characteristics, while gene frequency reflects the distribution of different alleles within a population. Additionally, there is an interaction between genotype and environment, where environmental factors can modulate the expression level of genotypes in trait manifestation. 1.3 Overview of GWAS GWAS (Genome-wide association studies) is a method to identify genetic variations that affect traits by comparing the association between genotypes and phenotypes within a population (Figure 1). Its principle is based on the correlation between genetic polymorphisms and traits differences among individuals. By using statistical methods, GWAS aims to determine genetic markers or genes associated with target traits. Figure 1 Overview of steps for conducting GWAS (Uffelmann et al., 2021)
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