Q3 of 77 Page 65

In animal husbandry, if two closely related animals are mated for a few generations, it results in loss of fertility and vigour. Why is this so?

When two closely related animals are mated, it is known as inbreeding. Inbreeding results in homozygosity in which the pair of alleles has similar alleles. Continued inbreeding causes inbreeding depression because due to homozygosity there is accumulation of recessive genes in the animals.

The accumulation of recessive genes results in loss of fertility and vigour. Hence, in animal husbandry, if two closely related animals are mated for a few generations, it results in loss of fertility and vigour.


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