Maternal Grandsire Verification and Detection without Imputation

Abstract

The rapidly increasing availability of SNP genotype information enables pedigree verification at a deeper level than before. Here a method for verification and detection of maternal grandsires (MGS), for animals without dam genotypes, is described which we name long haplotype MGS detection. This new method facilitates an easier workflow by avoiding phasing of maternal grandsires and imputation resulting in considerable time-savings. It is shown to be over 99% in agreement with maternal grandsires obtained using imputation even when most animals have low density genotypes and no imputation was used. Genomic information not only enables genomic selection but also helps in improving selection and traditional breeding value estimation and in avoiding inbreeding by enabling sampling and pedigree errors to be tracked and corrected.