Quantitative Genetics for Using Genetic Diversity.

Quantitative genetics is the science of the exploration, and exploitation, of genetic diversity. While much of the recent attention in the field has been on the use (and abuse) of molecular information, they have been equally important statistical developments. Here I present a brief overview of three recent tools developed in different fields of quantitative genetics that may be of considerable importance to breeders. The first are molecular approaches to detecting genes under selection (either due to domestication or natural selection in wild populations). The second is the use of mixed and biadditive models for the analysis of structure in complex genotype-environment datasets. The third are molecular-based approaches to selection, in particular the recent push towards genome-wide selection.