A Combined Analysis in Complementary Progeny Tests: Effects on breeding value accuracies

Complementary progeny tests allow for simultaneously ranking parents for their general combining ability (GCA) and within-family forward selection. To do this, progeny tests are established with different types of genetic entries (i.e., half-sib and full-sib seedlings, respectively), and different experimental designs. This study proposes a combined analysis of the GCA and full-sib (FS) tests using the mixed model approach to predict simultaneously the breeding values of grandparents, parents, full-sib families and offspring on the same scale. Moreover, a first order autoregressive spatial mixed model for the GCA tests was also implemented in the combined analysis. Our empirical study in coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) shows that additional information provided from relatives and the overlap genetic entry among GCA and FS tests via the proposed combined analysis, improves the accuracies of breeding values compared to the non-combined analysis. The improvements in the accuracies of breeding values for backward and forward selections were generally modest. Spatial and combined analyses gave slightly better results than the non-spatial combined model.