Genetic factors influencing rabbit breeding. An overview
Milena Bozhilova-Sakova
Rabbit breeding is a branch of animal husbandry, that provides high-quality and dieted meat. In Bulgaria, this sector is slightly developed, regardless of the growing interest in it. Rabbits have excellent biological abilities – early maturity, high growth intensity, high fertility, and good feed absorption. Rabbit meat has excellent taste qualities, low cholesterol content, and a low percentage of bones in the carcass. In Bulgaria, rabbits are raised mainly for meat. Although the industry is well developed, rabbit meat production is in demand on the market due to its dietary properties, such as low fat and high protein content. Most of the rabbit population in Bulgaria has consisted of White New Zealand and California breeds, but the breeds White Giant, Belgian Giant, Chinchilla, the newly created breed group – Veselina, and the hybrid ZIKA are also bred but in smaller populations and mainly in private farms. The rabbit genome consists of 44 chromosomes (2n = 44). The identification of genome regions and genes related to important phenotypic traits allows the selection of the genetic markers linked with the trait of interest. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) contributes to choosing animals at the early stage of breeding by improving and increasing the expected results compared to the standard methods of selection.
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