During her studies, Huiming Liu investigated the increase in inbreeding and the loss of allelic diversity using conventional or genomic selection in a long-term animal breeding scheme. Huiming Liu also studied alternative selection criteria and selection rules being proposed to ensure a large genetic gain by controlling the loss of genetic variation in the population in a long planning horizon.

The new research findings contribute to the understandings of mechanisms underlying long-term genetic gain, e.g. fixation and loss of favorable quantitative traits, increase in inbreeding and loss of genetic variation, in genomic selection programs.

The PhD degree was completed at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University.

Time: Friday 11 April 2014 at 13.00
Place: Meeting room 2, AU-Foulum, Tjele, Denmark
Title of dissertation: Application of dense marker genotypes for long-term genetic gain in animal breeding schemes
Contact information: Huiming Liu, e-mail: huiming.liu@agrsci.dk, tel.: +45 31859110
Members of the assessment committee:
John Woolliams, Professor, The Roslin Institute and Royal School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Mario Calus, Senior researcher, Animal Science Group, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
Just Jensen (chair), Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University
Main supervisor:
Elise Norberg, Senior Scientist, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University
Co-supervisor:
Peer Berg, Section Leader Farm Animals, NordGen, Norway
Anders Christian Sørensen, Senior Scientist, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English.

The defence is public.
The dissertation is available for reading at the Graduate School of Science and Technology/GSST, Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, room 112, 8000 Aarhus C.