Estimation of Combining Ability for Yield Traits in Groundnut using Genetic Variance-covariance among Relatives

Background: In standard mating designs, the suitability of a line as a parent is generally assessed by examining its overall genetic effects. However, if the given attributes of a line are due to gene interaction (epistasis), this approach becomes less reliable. As the performance of the line will exceed the sum of alleles, thereby inflating its breeding potential. The current study aimed to partition these genetic effects into additive and non-additive effects and their interaction with the environment for authentic selection of parental line(s) having high additive effects.
Methods: In this study, genetic effects of 40 advanced breeding lines (ABLs) of groundnut developed through pedigree method were partitioned into additive and non-additive effects by incorporating the pedigree information into analysis. These effects and their interactions were further modelled by incorporating variance-covariance structures constructed as Kronecker product across sites.
Result: The merit of 40 ABLs of groundnut was demarcated based on their breeding values. The differential ranking based on both genetic values and additive effects led to conclude that selection for parents should be preferred on breeding values for high genetic gains.
