Abstract
<jats:p>The availability of competitive and superior domestic agricultural products on the Russian market will be guaranteed by breeding efforts to enhance domestic genetic resources in rabbit breeding in order to produce new breeding forms. The research was carried out on the basis of the Afanas’ev Research Institute of Fur – Bearing Animal Breeding and Rabbit Breeding – a breeding unit, currently a stud farm for White Giant rabbits. Russian- bred White Giant rabbits were the object of the study. Both traditional selection and breeding methods and modern molecular genetic research were used to evaluate the breeding process. Novel, highly productive lines were created. An intrabreed interline cross of White Giant rabbits was obtained for the use of intrabreed heterosis in the creation of new breeding forms. When inbred lines (Mother’s inbred line×Paternal inbred line) were bred, higher indicators in comparison with the original parent stock were received: 1.7/1.9 heads by fertility; 3.4/0.8 kits for weaning. This confirms the effectiveness of using the genetic potential of White Giant rabbits in creating new breeding forms to improve the breed. In order to select highly productive animals for developing a new breeding form of rabbits, new techniques have been created, such as an extended evaluation of the maternal qualities of does and an evaluation of bucks by a set of criteria using a micronucleus test. It was found that the frequency of micronuclei in erythrocyte occurrence, which vary from 0.1 to 1.0‰, suggests a high reproductive ability of bucks. As a result of the research, a new breeding form of rabbits was created, which, according to productive indicators, received the status of a new breed, Velikorodskaya Belaya.</jats:p>