An optimal contribution selection technique that utilises on-additive genetic components

This study proposes an optimal contribution selection method (OCS) that utilizes both additive and non-additive genetic components. Using a genetic algorithm, the contribution of sires toward a cohort of dams, along with their mate allocation, were optimized under a constraint of a 1% increment of inbreeding per generation. The inclusion of dominance into the OCS increases the total genetic gain in offspring initially by 30.5% improvement from +4.02 to +5.27 units compared to using additive genetic component alone for a trait with a 15% dominance-to-additive variance ratio. Compared to additive-only OCS, optimization of the dominance component resulted in one-off additional gains, with no additional merit thereafter, despite continued optimization. In conclusion, this inclusion of dominance in mate allocation can give a significant genetic lift in total genetic merit.