Leveraging microbiome information for animal genetic improvement

Abstract

There is growing evidence that the microbiome influences host phenotypic variation. Incorporating information about the holobiont - the host and its microbiome - into genomic prediction models may accelerate genetic improvements in farmed animal populations. Importantly, these models must account for the indirect effects of the host genome on microbiome-mediated phenotypes.

Keywords: genomic prediction; hologenomics; microbiability; microbiome breeding.