Inbreeding Trends and Genetic Diversity in Purebred Sheep Populations

Monitoring the rate of change in inbreeding and genetic diversity within a population is important to guide breeding programmes. Such interest stems from the impact of loss in genetic diversity on sustainable genetic gain but also the impact on performance (i.e. inbreeding depression). The objective of the present study was to evaluate trends in inbreeding and genetic diversity in 43 066 Belclare, 120 753 Charollais, 22 652 Galway, 78 925 Suffolk, 187 395 Texel, and 19 821 Vendeen purebred sheep. The effective population size for each of the six breeds was between 116.0 (Belclare population) and 314.8 (Charollais population). The Charollais population was the most genetically diverse with the greatest number of effective founders, effective ancestors, and effective founder genomes; conversely, the Belclare was the least genetically diverse population with the fewest number of effective founders, effective ancestors, and effective founder genomes for each of the six breeds investigated. Overall, the effective population sizes and the total genetic diversity within each of the six breeds were above the minimum thresholds generally considered to be required for the long-term viability of a population.