Genetic structure of population; Changes in gene frequency; Inbreeding; Quantitative genetics; Repeatability; Heritability; Aids to selection; Empirical tests of selection theory; Crossbreeding; Breeding plans.

This book is an outstanding contribution to the very meager list of books and reading materials available to Filipino teachers, students, and practitioners working on animal improvement. Dr. Bondoc offers scholarly breeding principles based on his years of experience and research.

This text book, originally published in 1970, presents the field of population genetics, starting with elementary concepts and leading the reader well into the field. It is concerned mainly with population genetics in a strict sense and deals primarily with natural populations and less fully with the rather similar problems that arise in breading live stock and cul t i vat ed plans . The emphasis is on the behavior of genes and population attributes under natural selection where the most important measure is Darwinian fitness. This text is intended for graduatestudents and advanced undergraduates in genetics and population biology. This book steers a middle course between completely verbal biological arguments and the rigor of the mathematician. The first two-thirds of the book do not require advanced mathematical background. An ordinary knowledge of calculus will suffice. The latter parts of the book, which deal with population stochastically, use more advanced methods.

I have for a number of years taught a course in population genetics for students interested in plant and animal breeding. The objective of the course has been to lay a foundation in population genetics for the concepts of quantitative genetics which are introduced in the last third of the course. I have not been able to find an appropriate text for this purpose. For a quarter of a century, Falconer's Introduction to Quantitative Genetics has been the standard, and excellent, text in that subject. For my purposes, however, this text is not sufficiently detailed in the population genetics basis for quantitative theory. A number of good texts in population genetics are available, of which Li's First Course in Population Genetics is didactically the best. But these texts are directed toward the genetics of natural populations, rather than domestic populations, breeding under human control. They also tend to treat quantitative genetics gingerly, if at all. I have therefore developed the present text from my teaching notes. The chapters of this book are labeled "Lectures". Each is intended to correspond approximately to the amount of material which can be covered in a 50-minute lecture. Divisions are, of course, dictated by the natural divisions of the subject matter, and the lectures are therefore not of uniform length. Nevertheless, in so far as possible, an attempt has been made to make the average length a lecture's worth.

This is a concisely presented and precise outline of the subjects matter of population genetics, addressed to all those who are concerned and have interest in this rich subject. The topics covered in the book include: • Importance of genes in the continuity of a population and the gene frequency analysis; • Deviation from the infinitely large sample sie of the population leading to various types and forms of random genetic drift; • Neutral genes and the problem of panmixia;; • Method of detecting inbreeding intensities and their effects; • Gene flow and changes in genetic structure of the population; • The process of natural selection, and the idea of in clusive fitness and affecting the social life of animals and men, pointing out the irrelevance of Social Darwinism in Science; • Use of population genetics in the study of classical genetics, Pedigree analyses and changes and genetics of complex variations and the principles of quantitative genetics; • Glossary, certain statistical formations, the use of x2 test, t test, analysis of variance or F-test, relative ratios and that of correlation, and the concept of randomness. The discussion is brief and often critical, making this book outshine many contemporary textbooks found in the market. It is expected that readers will develop a clear and thorough understanding of the foundation of this subject of study and associated statistical analysis after going through the book.

Historical; The production index and its components; The University of California flock; The fundamental postulates of applied population genetics; Genetic relationship; Heritability; The principles of selection; Expected genetic gains; Mating systems; The bases of selection; Interregulations between traits; Selection indexes; Miscellaneous; The outlook.

Fitness and adaptation are fundamental characteristics of plant and animal species, enabling them to survive in their environment and to adapt to the inevitable changes in this environment. This is true for both the genetic resources of natural ecosystems as well as those used in agricultural production. Extensive genetic variation exists between varieties/breeds in a species and amongst individuals within breeds. This variation has developed over very long periods of time. A major ongoing challenge is how to best utilize this variation to meet short-term demands whilst also conserving it for longer-term possible use. Many animal breeding programs have led to increased performance for production traits but this has often been accompanied by reduced fitness. In addition, the global use of genetic resources prompts the question whether introduced genotypes are adapted to local production systems. Understanding the genetic nature of fitness and adaptation will enable us to better manage genetic resources allowing us to make efficient and sustainable decisions for the improvement or breeding of these resources. This book had an ambitious goal in bringing together a sample of the world’s leading scientists in animal breeding and evolutionary genetics to exchange knowledge to advance our understanding of these vital issues.

This book attempts to describe applied breeding methods for different domestic animal species as currently implemented. In this book, brief history of population genetics, domestication of livestock species, classification of breeds, economic characteristics of different livestock species & poultry and their importance, basic statistics, qualitative and quantitative inheritance, gene and genotype frequency and factors influencing gene frequency, values and means of population, methods of estimation and uses of heritability and repeatability, correlations, selection, response to selection, basis of selection, progeny testing, open nucleus breeding system, sire evaluation, methods of selection, breeding or mating systems, heterosis or hybrid vigor definitions and current livestock and poultry breeding programmes have been discussed in different s. The subject matter has been dealt with in a logical sequence so that the reader is conveyed from simple to more complex interpretation with relative ease. It is felt that the reader which are likely to comprise mostly of graduate and post graduate student of animal breeding and researcher will be able to get a deeper insight and better perceptions into the realm of the dynamic science of animal breeding.