Effects of Different Methods for Determining the Number of Transferable Embryos on Genetic Gain and Inbreeding Coefficient in a Japanese Holstein MOET Breeding Population

This study was conducted to examine the relationships between the methods used to determine the number of transferable embryos collected per flush and the estimated cumulative genetic improvements in the Japanese Holstein MOET breeding population. Cumulative genetic improvements were predicted by Monte Carlo simulation using three different determination methods (MODEL 1, MODEL 2, and MODEL 3), for calculating the number of embryos collected per flush. Moreover EBVs were estimated including or ignoring coefficients of inbreeding in MME. Inbreeding coefficients were also predicted. The number of transferable embryos was determined using normal, gamma, and Poisson distributions in MODEL 1, gamma and Poisson distributions in MODEL 2, and only the Poisson distribution in MODEL 3. The fitness of MODEL 2 in relation to field data from Hokkaido Japan was the best, and the results for MODEL3 indicated that this model is unsuitable for determining the number of transferable embryos. The largest cumulative genetic improvement (3.11) in the 10th generation was predicted by MODEL 3 and the smallest (2.83) by MODEL 2. Mean coefficients of correlation between the true and estimated breeding values were 0.738, 0.729, and 0.773 in MODELS 1, 2, and 3, respectively. It is suggested that the smallest genetic improvement in MODEL 2 resulted from the smallest correlation coefficient between the true and estimated breeding values. The differences in milk, fat, and protein yields between MODELS 2 and 3 were 182.0, 7.0, and 5.6 kg, respectively, in real units when each trait was independently selected. The inbreeding coefficient was the highest (0.374) in MODEL 2 and the lowest (0.357) in MODEL 3. The effects of different methods for determining the number of transferable embryos per flush on genetic improvements and inbreeding coefficients of the simulated populations were remarkable. The effects of including coefficients of inbreeding in MME, however, were unclear.