Cytoplasmatic inheritance, epigenetics and reprogramming DNA as tools in animal breeding

Although intensive efforts have been used to improve performance of farm animals, a better understanding of the influence of cytoplasmic inheritance and epigenomics may be key in enabling further genetic and epigenetic selection in the future. Genetic markers associated with increased animal production, such as prolificacy, meat quality and milk production, have been targeted by several studies, and the wide association of epigenetic marks with productive traits is an area of knowledge in animal breeding that is yet to be extensively explored. This new field for animal breeding studies is particularly challenging since epigenetic marks vary among tissues and among developmental stages, producing multiple epigenomes for a single genome. This review aims to point out some of the tools that may help to determine genome and epigenome associations, thus creating a new perspective for animal breeding by allowing the selection of desired genotypes and epigenotypes.