Breeding: Prepotency explained

Prepotency is the ability of the individual to stamp its characteristic on its offspring to such an extent that they resemble their parents more closely than in usual. It is the property of the characteristic and not the individual breed or sex. When two individuals are mated one may have more influence than the other on offspring. Similarly some lines and breeds are more pre-potent than others. However prepotency can’t be passed on from one generation to another unless it is possessed by both sires and dams. A high degree of homozygosity and possession of a high per cent of dominant genes are the inherent qualities that will enable an animal to stamp its own characteristic on majority of its offspring. A perfectly homozygous animals produce only one kind of gametes and all the offspring will receive exactly the same gene from each. Any genetic difference between the offspring would depend entirely on the halving process and on number of different genes received from the other parent. If the parent is homozygous for several dominant gene all the offspring will resemble it irrespective of what they received from other parent. Here prepotency is the maximum. Measure of prepotency In breeding and increasing of homozygosity is the only means of mating animals prepotent for characteristics. The more the animals are inbred the more they become homozygous for a number of genes. The inbreeding coefficient then is the best estimation of animal’s prepotency. Prepotency however is not transmissible from parent to offspring. #Prepotency #Genetics #breeding #pedigree #phenotype #genotype