Estimation of additive genetic and maternal genetic effects in mice selected for high and low oxygen consumption

Abstract Text: The genetic selection for maintenance energy requirement is an effective approach for improving feed conversion ratio. The selection for high (H) and low (L) oxygen consumption (OC) as indirect estimation of maintenance energy requirement during 14 generations was executed. The additive genetic and maternal genetic effects were estimated using 1,804 and 1,634 mice for H and L line, respectively. Additive genetic effect and maternal genetic heritability of OC per metabolic body size were estimated as 0.32±0.01 and 0.08±0.01 in the H line and 0.21±0.01 and 0.09±0.01 in the L line, respectively. The comparative high maternal genetic heritability is indicative of the effect of mitochondrial function on the OC. 

Keywords: oxygen  consumption, maternal effect, heritability, mice