METHODOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING A SUPERIOR LINE OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS

摘要

A procedure for ranking immune system responsiveness in an animal to provide an estimated breeding value (EBV) indicator of the animal's level of ability to resist disease and ability to pass such disease resistance to offspring is provided. The EBV indicator is useful in selecting animals to be bred in order to produce offspring which inherit the level of ability to resist disease. The procedure comprises: 1) testing an animal's response to at least two tests, one of which is a general measure and the other antigen specific which determines heritable humoral immunity traits; 2) testing the same animal's response to at least two tests one of which is a general measure and the other antigen specific which determine heritable cell-mediated immunity traits; 3) testing the animal's response to the two tests of humoral immunity traits and the two tests of cell-mediated immunity traits beginning as soon as possible after the animal has been weaned from its mother and at a time chosen to negate effects of passive immunity; and 4) ranking the animal's EBV indicator relative to other ranked animals based on the animal's level of response to the tests. This procedure is useful in selecting or grouping animals into high and low groups as well as control groups. The procedure is particularly useful in developing superior strains of pigs, cattle, fish, chickens and other like livestock.