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Thinh Tuan Chu: Improving genetic gain of breeding programs for poultry reared under commercial production conditions

PhD defence, Friday 8 November 2019. Thinh Tuan Chu.

Thinh Tuan Chu

During his studies, Thinh Tuan Chu investigated genotype-by-environment interactions (GxE) in breeding programs for poultry and provided solutions to improve genetic progress in these breeding programs. Environmental differences between the breeding and commercial production environments may lead to GxE i.e. re-ranking of breeding values of animals in the two environments. A substantial re-ranking implies that genetic progress achieved in the breeding programs is not realized in the commercial production environments. The issues of GxE are not new and several solutions exist, however, there has not been much focus on solutions for breeding programs for poultry.

The research findings show that in the presence of GxE interactions, a breeding program for poultry should establish recording systems under the production environments, collecting either individual or group records in order to ensure maximum genetic gains and provide customers with genotypes well adapted to the production environments.

The PhD degree was completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University and the Graduate School of Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences (WIAS), Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands as part of the Erasmus Joint Doctorate Program “EGS-ABG”.

This résumé was prepared by the PhD student.

Time: Friday 8 November 2019 at 9.30
Place: 8814-3075 Auditorium, Foulum, Aarhus University
Title of PhD thesis: Genotype by environment interactions in poultry breeding programs
Contact information: Thinh Tuan Chu, e-mail: chu.thinh@mbg.au.dk, tel.: +45 9174 3437
Members of the assessment committee:
Prof. Erling Strandberg, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden.
Dr. Katrijn Peeters, Hendrix Genetics Research, the Netherlands
Prof. Mart de Jong, Quantitative Veterinary Epidemiology, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
Dr. Bernt Guldbrandtsen (chair), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Main supervisor:
Dr. Elise Norberg, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Co-supervisor:
Prof. Just Jensen, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Dr. Peer Berg, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Prof. Hans Komen, Animal Breeding and Genomics, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands
Dr. John W. M. Bastiaansen, Animal Breeding and Genomics, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English

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