Chromosome Degeneration in Relation to Growth and Hybrid Vigor

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Abstract
The maintenance of homozygous inbred lines is a matter of serious concern for the practical breeder. The possibility of continued production of degenerative loci must be guarded against by progeny testing or valuable lines will be lost or so impaired in vigor that they can be used only with difficulty. For theoretical genetics it is worth while to note that there is the possibility of continued degeneration; this takes place in crossbred as well as in inbred families and has nothing to do with inbreeding but is more apparent after consanguineous mating and more quickly eliminated. The prevention of chromosome degeneration and the elimination of defective loci after they are formed, in organisms not exposed to the rigorous natural selection, is one of the major problems of the future.

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