• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.208-215
• /
• 2014

Recently, new methods have been developed for estimating the current and recent changes in effective population sizes. Based on the methods, the effective population sizes of Korean populations were estimated using data from the Korean Association Resource (KARE) project. The overall changes in the population sizes of the total populations were similar to CHB (Han Chinese in Beijing, China) and JPT (Japanese in Tokyo, Japan) of the HapMap project. There were no differences in past changes in population sizes with a comparison between an urban area and a rural area. Age-dependent current and recent effective population sizes represent the modern history of Korean populations, including the effects of World War II, the Korean War, and urbanization. The oldest age group showed that the population growth of Koreans had already been substantial at least since the end of the 19th century.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.19
• /
• pp.8503-8508
• /
• 2014

Background: After the WHO recommended HPV vaccination of the general population in 2009, government support of HPV vaccination programs was increased in many countries. However, this policy was not implemented in Korea due to perceived low cost-effectiveness. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the cost-utility of HPV vaccination programs targeted to high risk populations as compared to vaccination programs for the general population. Materials and Methods: Each study population was set to 100,000 people in a simulation study to determine the incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR), then standard prevalence rates, cost, vaccination rates, vaccine efficacy, and the Quality-Adjusted Life-Years (QALYs) were applied to the analysis. In addition, sensitivity analysis was performed by assuming discounted vaccination cost. Results: In the socially vulnerable population, QALYs gained through HPV vaccination were higher than that of the general population (General population: 1,019, Socially vulnerable population: 5,582). The results of ICUR showed that the cost of HPV vaccination was higher for the general population than the socially vulnerable population. (General population: 52,279,255 KRW, Socially vulnerable population: 9,547,347 KRW). Compared with 24 million KRW/QALYs as the social threshold, vaccination of the general population was not cost-effective. In contrast, vaccination of the socially vulnerable population was strongly cost-effective. Conclusions: The results suggest the importance and necessity of government support of HPV vaccination programs targeted to socially vulnerable populations because a targeted approach is much more cost-effective. The implementation of government support for such vaccination programs is a critical strategy for decreasing the burden of HPV infection in Korea.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.692-703
• /
• 2023

Objective: The main goals of this investigation were to i) assess the population structure and genetic diversity and ii) determine the efficiency of the ongoing breeding program in a closed flock of Angora rabbits through pedigree analysis. Methods: The pedigree records of 6,145 animals, born between 1996 to 2020 at NTRS, ICAR-CSWRI, Garsa were analyzed using ENDOG version 4.8 software package. The genealogical information, genetic conservation index and parameters based on gene origin probabilities were estimated. Results: Analysis revealed that, 99.09% of the kits had both parents recorded in the whole dataset. The completeness levels for the whole pedigree were 99.12%, 97.12%, 90.66%, 82.49%, and 74.11% for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th generations, respectively, reflecting well-maintained pedigree records. The maximum inbreeding, average inbreeding and relatedness were 36.96%, 8.07%, and 15.82%, respectively. The mean maximum, mean equivalent and mean completed generations were 10.28, 7.91, and 5.51 with 0.85%, 1.19%, and 1.85% increase in inbreeding, respectively. The effective population size estimated from maximum, equivalent and complete generations were 58.50, 27.05, and 42.08, respectively. Only 1.51% of total mating was highly inbred. The effective population size computed via the individual increase in inbreeding was 42.83. The effective numbers of founders (f_e), ancestors (f_a), founder genomes (f_g) and non-founder genomes (f_ng) were 18, 16, 6.22, and 9.50, respectively. The fe/fa ratio was 1.12, indicating occasional bottlenecks had occurred in the population. The six most influential ancestors explained 50% of genes contributed to the gene pool. The average generation interval was 1.51 years and was longer for the sire-offspring pathway. The population lost 8% genetic diversity over time, however, considerable genetic variability still existed in the closed Angora population. Conclusion: This study provides important and practical insights to manage and maintain the genetic variability within the individual flock and the entire population.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.230-233
• /
• 2016

Linkage disequilibrium (LD) is the non-random association between the loci and it could give us a preliminary insight into the genetic history of the population. In the present study LD patterns and effective population size (Ne) of three Korean cattle breeds along with Chinese, Japanese and Mongolian cattle were compared using the bovine Illumina SNP50 panel. The effective population size (Ne) is the number of breeding individuals in a population and is particularly important as it determines the rate at which genetic variation is lost. The genotype data in our study comprised a total of 129 samples, varying from 4 to 39 samples. After quality control there were ~29,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for which $r^2$ value was calculated. Average distance between SNP pairs was 1.14 Mb across all breeds. Average $r^2$ between adjacent SNP pairs ranged between was 0.1 for Yanbian to 0.3 for Qinchuan. Effective population size of the breeds based on $r^2$ varied from 16 in Hainan to 226 in Yanbian. Amongst the Korean native breeds effective population size of Brindle Hanwoo was the least with Ne = 59 and Brown Hanwoo was the highest with Ne = 83. The effective population size of the Korean cattle breeds has been decreasing alarmingly over the past generations. We suggest appropriate measures to be taken to prevent these local breeds in their native tracts.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.8
• /
• pp.1078-1087
• /
• 2018

Objective: The genetic diversity of the Landrace population, a representative maternal pig breed in Korea, is important for genetic improvement. Previously, the effective population size (Ne) has been used to infer the genetic diversity of a population of interest. In this study, we aimed to use single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data to characterize linkage disequilibrium (LD) and the Ne of the Korean Landrace population. Methods: We genotyped 1,128 Landrace individuals from three representative Korean major grand-grand-parent (GGP) farms using the Illumina PorcineSNP60 version2 BeadChip, which covers >61,565 SNPs located across all autosomes and mitochondrial and sex chromosomes. We estimated the expected LD and current Ne, as well as ancestral Ne. Results: In the Korean Landrace population, the mean LD ($r^2$) of 3.698 million SNP pairs was $0.135{\pm}0.204$. The mean $r^2$ decreased slowly with as the distance between SNPs increased, and remained constant beyond 3 Mb. According to the $r^2$ calculations, 8,085 of 3.698 million SNP pairs were in complete LD. The current Ne (${\pm}$standard deviation) of the Korean Landrace population is approximately 92.27 [79.46; 105.07] individuals. The ancestral Ne exhibited a slow and steady decline from 186.61 to 92.27 over the past 100 generations. Additionally, we observed more a rapid Ne decrease from the past 20 to 10 generations ago, compared with other intervals. Conclusion: We have presented an overview of LD and the current and ancestral Ne values in the Korean Landrace population. The mean LD and current Ne for the Korean Landrace population confirm the genetic diversity and reflect the history of this pig population in Korea.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.24 no.12
• /
• pp.1660-1665
• /
• 2011

This study presents a linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis and effective population size ($N_e$) for the entire Hanwoo Korean cattle genome, which is the first LD map and effective population size estimate ever calculated for this breed. A panel of 4,525 markers was used in the final LD analysis. The pairwise $r^2$ statistic of SNPs up to 50 Mb apart across the genome was estimated. A mean value of $r^2$ = 0.23 was observed in pairwise distances of <25 kb and dropped to 0.1 at 40 to 60 kb, which is similar to the average intermarker distance used in this study. The proportion of SNPs in useful LD ($r^2{\geq}0.25$) was 20% for the distance of 10 and 20 kb between SNPs. Analyses of past effective population size estimates based on direct estimates of recombination rates from SNP data demonstrated that a decline in effective population size to $N_e$ = 98.1 occurred up to three generations ago.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.422-427
• /
• 1997

Breeding efficiency was investigated to reveal crucial factors for constructing effective breeding system with subdivided populations under equal genetic level. Simulation study of selection experiment was performed for 20 generations with 20 replications each, comparing average breeding values and inbreeding coefficients between the two breeding systems; single population scheme and two population scheme, each of which had the same genetic parameters. Genetic correlations (-0.5 to 0.5) were assumed to be caused only by pleiotropic effect of a gene. Phenotypes of the two traits generated by polygenic effect with additive 36 loci and residuals distributed normally were selected by two traits selection index procedure. Comparing between the single population scheme and the two population scheme, the single population scheme showed higher genetic gain with lower inbreeding coefficient. This result was confirmed particularly for the situation of high selection intensity, high heritability and high degree of unevenness for economic weight. Genetic correlations in the single population scheme were significantly lower than the two population scheme when initial genetic correlation was negative. When terminal crossbreeding for the two population scheme is taken into account, superiority of the two population scheme was suggested. The terminal crossbreeding was effective under the situation of long term selection, existence of moderate inbreeding depression and use of less extreme economic weight.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.12
• /
• pp.1843-1851
• /
• 2018

Objective: We aimed to characterize linkage disequilibrium (LD) and effective population size ($N_e$) in a Korean Yorkshire population using genomic data from thousands of individuals. Methods: We genotyped 2,470 Yorkshire individuals from four major Grand-Grand-Parent farms in Korea using the Illumina PorcineSNP60 version2 BeadChip, which covers >61,565 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located across all chromosomes and mitochondria. We estimated the expected LD and inferred current $N_e$ as well as ancestral $N_e$. Results: We identified 61,565 SNP from autosomes, mitochondria, and sex chromosomes and characterized the LD of the Yorkshire population, which was relatively high between closely linked markers (>0.55 at 50 kb) and declined with increasing genetic distance. The current $N_e$ of this Korean Yorkshire population was 122.87 (106.90; 138.84), while the historical $N_e$ of Yorkshire pigs suggests that the ancestor $N_e$ has decreased by 99.6% over the last 10,000 generations. Conclusion: To maintain genetic diversity of a domesticated animal population, we must carefully consider appropriate breed management methods to avoid inbreeding. Although attenuated selection can affect short-term genetic gain, it is essential for maintaining the long-term genetic variability of the Korean Yorkshire population. Continuous and long-term monitoring would also be needed to maintain the pig population to avoid an unintended reduction of $N_e$. The best way to preserve a sustainable population is to maintain a sufficient $N_e$.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics B
• /
• v.32B no.12
• /
• pp.1680-1686
• /
• 1995

GAs, effective stochastic search algorithms based on the model of natural evolution and genetics, have been successfully applied to various optimization problems. When population size is not large, GAs often suffer from the phenomenon of premature convergence in which all chromosomes in the population lose the diversity of genes before they find the optimal solution. In this paper, we propose that a new heuristic that maintains the diversity of genes by adding some chromosomes with random mutation and selective mutation into population during evolution. And population size changes dynamically with supplement of new chromosomes. Experimental results for several test functions show that when population size is rather small and the length of chromosome is not long, this method is effective.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.8
• /
• pp.28.1-28.6
• /
• 2014

This study was conducted to estimate the effective population size using SNPs data of 240 Jeju horses that had raced at the Jeju racing park. Of the total 61,746 genotyped autosomal SNPs, 17,320 (28.1%) SNPs (missing genotype rate of >10%, minor allele frequency of <0.05 and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium test P-value of < $10^{-6}$) were excluded after quality control processes. SNPs on the X and Y chromosomes and genotyped individuals with missing genotype rate over 10% were also excluded, and finally, 44,426 (71.9%) SNPs were selected and used for the analysis. The measures of the LD, square of correlation coefficient ($r^2$) between SNP pairs, were calculated for each allele and the effective population size was determined based on $r^2$ measures. The polymorphism information contents (PIC) and expected heterozygosity (HE) were 0.27 and 0.34, respectively. In LD, the most rapid decline was observed over the first 1 Mb. But $r^2$ decreased more slowly with increasing distance and was constant after 2 Mb of distance and the decline was almost linear with log-transformed distance. The average $r^2$ between adjacent SNP pairs ranged from 0.20 to 0.31 in each chromosome and whole average was 0.26, while the whole average $r^2$ between all SNP pairs was 0.02. We observed an initial pattern of decreasing $N_e$ and estimated values were closer to 41 at 1 ~ 5 generations ago. The effective population size (41 heads) estimated in this study seems to be large considering Jeju horse's population size (about 2,000 heads), but it should be interpreted with caution because of the technical limitations of the methods and sample size.