COURSE SYLLABUS - ANS 3384
GENETIC IMPROVEMENT OF FARM ANIMALS
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
CREDIT HOURS: 3
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Tim Olson, 202B Animal Science Building
(olson@animal.ufl.edu) Phone Nos. 392-2367 (office); (386)-418-4386 (home)
Office Hours: I am generally available except 12 Noon to 1:30 PM daily, 4-5 PM on Thursdays and 3-5 PM on Wednesdays
DEPARTMENT CHAIR: F. G. HEMBRY, Room 100 - Building 499 (the former Dairy and Poultry Sciences Building) Phone No. 392-1981 (office)
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Basic principles of Mendelian and quantitative
genetics as they apply to the improvement of farm animals. Selection,
inbreeding, crossbreeding and their application to the improvement of beef
cattle, dairy cattle, swine, horses and poultry as well as the genetic control
of coloration and defects in cattle and horses are included.
TEXT: No text is required, however, the book entitled Understanding
Animal Breeding by Richard M. Bourdon is recommended for supplemental
reading. Numerous handouts will be given throughout the course of the semester.
Tests will include only information from the lectures, problem sets and
handouts, however, the text should be helpful to those wanting greater
information and/or an alternative presentation of the course material.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. Understand the principles of Mendelian
genetics, segregation, recombination and mutation as they apply to the
inheritance of qualitative characters (coat colors and spotting patterns) and
genetic defects in farm animals.
2. Understand the traits of importance to the livestock industry, and the concepts of the inheritance of these traits such as heritability, repeatability, estimation of breeding values (EPDs, PTAs), accuracy (reliability) of breeding values, response to selection, correlated response to selection.
3. Be able to understand the effects of
inbreeding and crossbreeding on populations, to be able to calculate inbreeding
coefficients from pedigrees, to evaluate expected heterosis from crossbreeding
systems and to design effective crossbreeding systems.
4. Be able to evaluate genetic information from performance testing programs
and beef and dairy cattle sire summaries and to explain the current genetic
evaluation procedures used in the swine, poultry and equine industries.
.
Examinations and Grading Policy.
Examinations will include two midterm
examinations, announced quizzes and a cumulative final examination. The lowest
quiz grade will be dropped. Problem sets will be distributed and answers
provided, but will not be graded. The course averages will be computed as
follows:
Midterm Exams 45%
Quiz Average 25%
Final Exam 30%
The Final Examination for this course is
scheduled for Thursday, May 2nd from 7:30 AM to 9:30 in the same classroom.
The averages below will assure the
following grades:
92 - 100 A 72 - 78 C
88 - 91 B+ 68 - 71 D+
82 - 87 B 60 - 67 D
78 - 81 C+ Below 60 E
COURSE CONTENT:
1. REVIEW OF MENDELIAN GENETICS
A. COLOR INHERITANCE IN CATTLE, DOGS AND HORSES
B. INHERITANCE OF POLLEDNESS IN CATTLE
C. INHERITANCE OF GENETIC DEFECTS IN LIVESTOCK
2. CONTROL OF GENETIC DEFECTS
A. IDENTIFICATION OF HETEROZYGOUS SIRES THROUGH PROGENY TESTING SCHEMES
B. IDENTIFICATION OF HETEROZYGOTES USING DNA
PROBES
3. POPULATION GENETICS
4. STATISTICAL TERMINOLOGY
5. ANIMAL BREEDING CONCEPTS
A. ADDITIVE AND NONADDITIVE GENE ACTION
B. HERITABILITY AND REPEATABILITY
C. GENETIC CORRELATIONS BETWEEN TRAITS
6. SELECTION
A. SELECTION RESPONSE
1. ACCURACY OF SELECTION
2. SELECTION DIFFERENTIAL
3. GENERATION INTERVAL
B. GENETIC EVALUATION USING THE ANIMAL MODEL
1. PREDICTED TRANSMITTING ABILITY
2. EXPECTED PROGENY DIFFERENCES
3. RELIABILITY/ACCURACY/POSSIBLE CHANGE
4. INBREEDING
A. GENETIC BASIS OF INBREEDING
B. EFFECTS OF INBREEDING
C. CALCULATION OF INBREEDING COEFFICIENTS
5. CROSSBREEDING
A. GENETIC BASIS OF CROSSBREEDING
B. CROSSBREEDING SYSTEMS
C. PREDICTION OF RETAINED HETEROSIS
D. PREDICTION OF CROSSBRED PERFORMANCE IN
BEEF CATTLE
6. APPLICATIONS TO THE BEEF, DAIRY, EQUINE AND POULTRY INDUSTRIES
ACADEMIC HONESTY: As a result of completing the registration form
at the University of Florida, every student has signed the following statement:
I understand that the University of Florida expects its students to be
honest in all their academic work. I agree to adhere to this commitment to
academic honesty, and understand that my failure to comply with this commitment
may result in disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion from the
university.
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA COUNSELING
SERVICES: Resources are
available on-campus for students having personal problems or lacking clear
career and academic goals which interfere with their academic performance.
These resources include:
1. University Counseling Center, 301
Peabody Hall, 2-1575, personal and career counseling:
2. Student Mental Health, Student Health
Care Center, 2-1171, personal counseling:
3. Sexual Assault Recovery
Services, Student Health Care Center, 2-1161, sexual counseling:
4. Career Resource Center, Reitz Union, 2-1601, career development assistance
and counseling.
SOFTWARE USE: All
faculty, staff and students of the University are required and expected to obey
the laws and legal agreements governing software use. Failure to do so can lead
to monetary damages and/or criminal penalties for the individual violator.
Because such violations are also against University policies and rules,
disciplinary action will be taken as appropriate.