Archives of Biological Sciences 2014 Volume 66, Issue 3, Pages: 1097-1103
https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS1403097T
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Heterosis in the second and third generation affects litter size in a crossbreed mink (Neovison vison) population
Thirstrup Janne (Aarhus University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Tjele, Denmark)
Pertoldi Cino (Department of Biological Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark + Department/Section of Environmental Engineering, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark + Aalborg Zoo, Aalborg, Denmark)
Larsen Peter Foged (Copenhagen Research, Aarhus, Denmark)
Nielsen Vivi Hunnicke (Aarhus University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Tjele, Denmark)
Litter sizes in a cross between Brown and Black mink color types were
observed through six generations. Litter size was significantly affected by
yearly environmental variations. After adjusting for year effects, we found
significant increases in litter size in the second and third generations (F2
and F3) after crossing. Thereafter, in the following generations, litter size
dropped to a level comparable to the mean litter size of the midparent.
Increased litter size in F2 compared to F1 indicated that maternal effects
influenced litter size more than non-maternal effects. The heterosis was
mainly caused by an increase in litter size compared to the Black parental
line. This indicates that the Black line was affected by inbreeding
depression prior to crossing. We also found that two-year old F1 females had
significantly more offspring compared to one-year old F1 females.
Keywords: Inbreeding depression, maternal effect, non-maternal effects, environmental variation, color types