Research Interests

• Statistical analysis of quantitative trait loci
• Breeding and genetics of dairy cattle
• Economic aspects of animal breeding
• Statistical methods of genetic evaluation

Recent Publications

Books

• Weller, J. I. (1994) Economic Aspects of Animal Breeding.  Chapman & Hall.  London.  244 pp.
• Weller, J. I. (2001) Quantitative Trait Loci Analysis in Animals. CABI Publishing.  London.  287 pp.
• Weller, J. I. (2009) Quantitative Trait Loci Analysis in Animals, second edition . CABI Publishing.  London.  272 pp.
• Weller, J. I. (2016) Genomic Selection in Animals. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. 175 pp.

Book chapters and invited reviews

• Weller, J. I. (1999) Economic evaluation of straight- and cross-breeding programmes. In: Workshop on Developing Breeding Strategies for Lower Input Animal Production Environments. ICAR Technical Series No. 3. Bella, Italy. 243-277.
• Weller, J. I. (1999) Genetic trends for primary and secondary traits in Israeli dairy cattle, theory and results. In: Animal Production: Advances in Technology, Accuracy and Management. Proc. XXXII Intern. Symp. Soc. Ital. Prog. Zootech. Milan, Italy. 67-75.
• Weller, J. I. and Ron, M.  (2000) Estimation and detection of QTL in dairy cattle. XXXVII Reunião Anual Da Sociedade Brasileira De Zootecnia.  Viçosa, MG, Brazil.  (Published on CD).
• Weller, J. I. (2003) Application of modern biotechnology to farm animals. FAO/UNESCO Subregional Workshop, Agricultural Biotechnology and Biosafety for Food Security and Rural Development in the Caucasus Region and Moldova.  K. Nichterlein and S. Ayrapetyan (Eds.).  Yerevan, Armenia. 64-67.
• Weller, J. I. (2006) Lessons for aquaculture breeding from livestock.  Israel J. Aquaculture Bamidgeh 8; 257-265.
• Weller, J. I. (2007) Current and future developments in patents for quantitative trait loci in dairy cattle.  Recent Patents on DNA & Gene Sequences 1; 69-76.
• Weller, J. I. (2007) Marker assisted selection in dairy cattle.In: Marker-Assisted Selection, Current status and future perspectives in crops,   livestock, forestry and fish.  E. Guimarães, J. Ruane, B. D. Scherf, A. Sonnino, J. D. Dargie (Eds.) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.  Rome, Italy. pp 199-228.
• Weller, J. I.(2010) Whole genome marker assisted selection. CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources5; 23.
• Weller, J. I. and Ron, M. (2011)  Invited review: Quantitative trait nucleotide determination in the era of genomic selection.  J. Dairy Sci. 94 ;1082-1090
• Weller, J. I. (2012) Mapping quantitative trait loci.  In:   Bovine Genomics. J. E. Womack (Ed.) Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, Iowa, USA, pp169-210.
• Weller, J. I. (2016) Genetic factors affecting fertility, growth, health and longevity in dairy cattle. In: Achieving Sustainable Production of Milk - Vol.1 Milk Composition, Genetics and Breeding.  N. van Belzen (Ed.) Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing Limited, Cambridge, UK, pp: 209-242.  
• Weller, J. I., Ezra, E. and Ron, M. (2017)  Invited review: A perspective on the future of genomic selection in dairy cattle. J. Dairy Sci. 100; 8633-8644. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2017-12879. 

Articles in reviewed journals

• Israel, C. and Weller, J. I. (1998) Estimation of candidate gene effects in dairy cattle populations. J. Dairy Sci. 81; 1653-1662.
• Ronin, Y. I., Korol, A. B., and Weller, J. I. (1998) Selective genotyping to detect quantitative trait loci affecting multiple traits: interval mapping analysis. Theor. Appl. Genet. 97: 1169-1178.
• Samina, I., Zakay-Rones, Z., Weller, J. I., and Peleg, B.-A. (1998) Host factors affecting the homologous and heterologous immune response of cattle to FMDV: genetic background, age, virus strains and route of administration. Vaccine 16; 335-339.
• Weller, J. I., Song, J. Z., Heyen, D. W., Lewin, H. A., and Ron, M. (1998) A new approach to the problem of multiple comparisons in the genetic dissection of complex traits. Genetics 150; 1699-1706
• Da, Y., VanRaden, P. M., Ron, M., Beever, J. M., Paszek, A. A., Song, J. Wiggans, G. R., Ma, R. Weller, J. I., and Lewin, H. A. (1999) Standardization and conversion of marker polymorphism measures. Anim. Biotechnol. 10; 25-35.
• Heyen, D. W., Weller, J. I., Ron, M., Band, M., Beever, J. E. Feldmesser, E., Da, Y., Wiggans, G. R., VanRaden, P. M., and Lewin, H. A. (1999) A genome scan for QTL influencing milk production and health traits in dairy cattle. Physiol. Genom. 1; 165-175.
• Lagziel, A., Lipkin, E., Ezra, E., Soller, M., and Weller, J. I. (1999) An Msp I polymorphism at the bovine growth hormone (bGH) is linked to a locus affecting milk protein percent. Anim. Genet. 39; 296-299.
• Settar, P., and Weller, J. I. (1999) Genetic analysis of cow survival in the Israeli dairy cattle population. J. Dairy Sci. 82; 2170-2177.
• Israel, C. and Weller, J. I. (2000) Effect of misidentification on genetic gain and estimation of breeding value in dairy cattle populations. J. Dairy Sci. 83; 181-187.
• Braunschweig, M. H., Paszek, A. A., Weller, J. I., Da, Y., Hawken, R. J., Wheeler, M. B., Schook, L. B., and Alexander, L. J. (2001) Generation and exploration of a dense genetic map in a region of a QTL affecting corpora lutea in a Meishan × Yorkshire cross. Mammal. Genome (In press).
• Ron, M., Kliger, D., Feldmesser, E., Seroussi, E. Ezra, E., and Weller, J. I. (2001) Multiple QTL Analysis of Bovine Chromosome 6 in the Israeli Holstein Population by a Daughter Design. Genetics (In press).
• Israel, C. and Weller, J. I. (2002)  Estimation of quantitative trait loci effects in dairy cattle populations. J. Dairy Sci.  85; 1285-1297.
• Weller, J. I., Weller, H., Kliger, D., and Ron, M. (2002)  Estimation of quantitative trait locus allele frequency via a modified granddaughter design.  Genetics 162; 841-849.
• Cnaani, A., Hallerman, E. M., Ron, M., Weller, J. I., Indelman, M., Kashi, Y., Gall, G. A. E., and Hulata, G. (2003)  Detection of a chromosomal region with two quantitative trait loci, affecting cold tolerance and fish size, in an F₂ tilapia hybrid. Aquaculture 223; 117-128.
• Ron, M., Domochovsky, R., Golik, M., Seroussi, E., Ezra, E., Shturman, C., and Weller, J. I. (2003) Analysis of vaginal swabs for paternity testing and marker-assisted selection in cattle. J. Dairy Sci. 86; 1818-1820.
• Weller, J. I., Golik, M., Seroussi, E., Ezra, E., and Ron, M.  (2003)  Population-wide analysis of a QTL affecting milk-fat production in the Israeli Holstein population.  J. Dairy Sci. 86; 2219-2227
• Ashwell, M. S., Heyen, D. W., Sonstegard, T. S., Van Tassell, C. P., Da, Y., VanRaden, P. M., Ron, M., Weller, J. I., and Lewin, H. A. (2004) Detection of quantitative trait loci affecting female fertility and milk production in ten Dairy Bull DNA Repository families. J. Dairy Sci. 87; 468-475.
• Cohen, M., Reichenstein, M., Everts-van der Wind, A., Heon-Lee, J., Shani, M., Lewin, H. A., Weller, J. I., Ron, M., and Seroussi, E. (2004) Cloning and characterization of FAM13A1- a gene near a milk protein QTL on BTA6: evidence for population-wide linkage-disequilibrium in Israeli Holsteins. Genomics 84; 374-383.
• Israel, C. and Weller, J. I. (2004)  Effect of type I error threshold on marker-assisted selection in dairy cattle.  Livest. Prod. Sci. 85; 189-199.
• Ron, M., Feldmesser, E., Golik, M., Tager-Cohen, I., Kliger, D., Reiss, V., Domochovsky, R., Alus, O., Seroussi, E., Ezra, E., and Weller, J. I. (2004) A complete genome scan of the Israeli Holstein population for quantitative trait loci by a daughter design. J. Dairy Sci. 87; 476-490.
• Weller, J. I. and Ezra, E.  (2004 Genetic analysis of the Israeli Holstein dairy cattle population for production and non-production traits with a multitrait animal model. J. Dairy Sci. 87; 1519-1527.
• Weller, J. I. and Soller, M. (2004)  An analytical formula to estimate confidence interval of QTL location with a saturated genetic map as a function of experimental design.  Theor. Appl. Genet. 109; 1224-1229.
• Weller, J. I., Feldmesser, E., Golik, M., Tager-Cohen, I., Domochovsky, R., Alus, O., Ezra, E., and Ron, M. (2004)  Factors affecting incorrect paternity assignment in the Israeli Holstein population.  J. Dairy Sci. 87; 2627-2640.
• Ron, M., Tager-Cohen, I., Feldmesser, E., Ezra, E. Kalay, D. Roe, B. Seroussi, E., and Weller, J. I. (2004)  Bovine umbilical hernia maps to the centromeric end of Bos taurus autosome 8.  Anim. Genet. 35; 431-437.
• Ashwell, M. S., Heyen, D. W., Weller, J. I., Ron, M., Sonstegard, T. S., Van Tassell, C. P., and Lewin H. A. (2005) Detection of quantitative trait loci influencing conformation traits and calving ease in Holstein-Friesian cattle.  J. Dairy Sci. 88; 4111-4119.
• Cohen-Zinder, M., Seroussi, E., Larkin, D. M., Loor, J. J., Everts-van der Wind, A., Lee, J. H., Drackley, J. K., Band, M. R., Hernandez, A. G., Shani, M., Lewin, H. A., Weller, J. I., and Ron, M. (2005). Identification of a missense mutation in the bovine ABCG2 gene with a major effect on the QTL on chromosome 6 affecting milk yield and composition in Holstein cattle. Genome Research 15; 936-944.
• Weller, J. I., Shlezinger, M., and Ron, M. (2005) Correcting for bias in estimation of quantitative trait loci effects.  Genet. Sel. Evol. 37; 501-522.
• Zaslaver, M., Offer, S., Kerem, Z., Stark, A. H., Weller, J. I., Eliraz, A., and Madar, Z. (2005)  Natural compounds derived from foods modulate nitric oxide production and oxidative status in epithelial lung cells. J. Agr. Food Chem. 53; 9934-9939.
• Baruch, E., Weller, J. I., Cohen-Zinder, M., Ron, M., and Seroussi, E. (2006) Efficient inference of haplotypes from genotypes on a large animal pedigree. Genetics 172; 1757-1765.
• Golik, M., Cohen-Zinder, M., Loor, J. J., Drackley, J. K., Band, M. R., Lewin, H. A., Weller, J. I., Ron, M., and Seroussi, E. (2006). Accelerated expansion of group IID like phospholipase A2 genes in Bos taurus. Genomics 87; 527-533.
• Ron, M., Cohen-Zinder, M., Peter, C., Weller, J. I., and Erhardt, G. (2006) ABCG2 polymorphism in Bos indicus and Bos taurus cattle breeds. J. Dairy Sci. 89; 4921-4923.
• Weller, J. I., Ezra, E., and Leitner G. (2006)  Genetic analysis of persistency in the Israeli Holstein population by the multitrait animal model. J. Dairy Sci. 89; 2738-2746.
• Weller, J. I., Seroussi, E. and Ron, M. (2006) Estimation of the number of genetic markers required for individual animal identification accounting for genotyping error s. Anim. Genet. 37; 387-389.
• Ron, M. and Weller, J. I. (2007)From QTL to QTN identification in livestock - "Winning by points rather than knock-out": a review. Anim. Genet. 38; 429-439.
• Ron, M., Israeli, G., Seroussi, E., Weller, J. I., Gregg, J. P., Shani, M. and Medrano, J. F. (2007) Combining mouse mammary gland gene expression and comparative mapping for the identification of candidate genes for QTL of milk production traits in cattle. BMC Genomics 8; 183.
• Baruch E. and Weller, J. I. (2008) Estimation of the number of SNP genetic markers required for parentage verification. Anim. Genet. 39: 474-479.
• Baruch E. and Weller, J. I. (2008)  Incorporation of discrete genotype effects for multiple genes into animal model evaluations when only a small fraction of the population has been genotyped. J. Dairy Sci. 91: 4365-4371.
• Weller, J. I. and Ezra, E. (2008) Genetic analysis of growth rate of Israeli Holstein calves. Animal 2: 1717-1723.
• Weller, J. I., Golik, M., Reikhav, S., Domochovsky, R., Seroussi, E., and Ron, M. (2008) Detection and analysis of QTL affecting production and secondary traits on chromosome 7 in Israeli Holsteins. J. Dairy Sci. 91: 802-813.
• Weller, J. I., Golik, M., Seroussi, E., Ron, M., and Ezra, E. (2008) Detection of quantitative trait loci affecting twinning rate in Israeli Holsteins by the daughter design. J. Dairy Sci. 91: 2469-2474.
• Baruch, E. and Weller, J. I. (2009) Incorporation of genotype effects into animal model evaluations when only a small fraction of the population has been genotyped. Animal 3: 16-23.
• Karniol, B., Shirak, A., Baruch, E., Singrün, C., Tal, A. Cahana, A., Kam, M., Skalski, Y., Brem, G., Weller, J. I., Ron, M., and Seroussi, E. (2009)Development of a 25-plex SNP assay for traceability in cattle. Anim. Genet. 90: 353-356.
• Seroussi, E., Glick, G., Shirak, A., Yakobson, E., Weller, J. I ., Ezra E., and Zeron, Y. (2010)  Analysis of copy loss and gain variations in Holstein cattle autosomes using BeadChip SNPs.  BMC Genomics 11 ; 673.
• Weller J. I., Glick, G., Ezra, E., Zeron, Y., Seroussi, E., and Ron, M.  (2010) Paternity validation and estimation of genotyping error rate for the BovineSNP50 BeadChip.  Anim. Genet. . 41; 551–553.
• Eshel O., Shirak, A., Weller, J. I., Slossman, T. Hulata, G., and Ron, M. (2011).  Fine mapping of a locus on linkage group 23 for sex-determination in Nile tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus).  Anim. Genet. 41 222-224
• Glick G., Shirak, A., Seroussi, E., Zeron, Y., Ezra, E., Weller, J. I., and Ron, M. (2011)  Fine mapping of a QTL for fertility on BTA7 and its association with a CNV in the Israeli Holsteins. G3 1; 65 -74.
• Golik, G. Glick, G., Reicher, S., Shirak, A., Ezra, E., Zeron, Y., Gootwine, E., Ron, M., Weller, J. I., and Seroussi, E. (2011) Differential expression of ruminant ZNF496 variants: Association with QTL affecting bovine milk concentration and fertility.  J. Dairy Sci. 94;2092–2102.
• Ron, M.,   Porat, B., Band, M. R., and Weller, J. I.  (2011)  Chimaerism detection in bovine twins, triplets and quadruplets using sex chromosomes linked markers.  Anim. Genet. 41; 208-211
• Eshel, O., Shirak, A., Hulata G., Weller, J. I. and Ron, M. (2012)  Linkage and physical mapping of sex region on LG23 of Nile tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus) G3 . 2; 35-42.
• Glick, G. Shirak, A., Uliel, S.,  Zeron, Y., Ezra, E., Seroussi, E., Ron, M., and Weller, J. I . (2012)  Signatures of contemporary selection in the Israeli Holstein dairy cattle.  Anim. Genet. 43 (Suppl. 1); 45–55.
• Reicher, S., Seroussi, E., Weller, J. I ., Rosov, A., and Gootwine, E. (2012)  Ovine mitochondrial DNA sequence variation and its association with production and reproduction traits within an Afec-Assaf flock. J. Anim. Sci. 90;2084-2091.
• Weller, J. I. Ron, M., Glick, G., Shirak, A. Zeron, Y., and Ezra E. (2012)  A simple method for genomic selection for moderately sized dairy cattle populations. Animal6; 193-202
• Seroussi, E., Glick, G., Shirak, A., Ezra, E., Zeron, Y., Ron, M., and Weller, J. I.(2013)  Maternity validation using sire-only BovineSNP50 BeadChip data.  Anim. Genet.44 ; 754–757
• Weller, J. I., VanRaden, P. M., and Wiggans, G. R. (2013) Application of a posteriori granddaughter and modified granddaughter designs to determine Holstein haplotype effects.  J. Dairy Sci. 96;5376–5387.
• Eshel,O., Shirak,  A., Dor L., Band, M. Zak  T., Markovich-Gordon, M., Chalifa-Caspi  V., Feldmesser,   E., Weller J. I., Seroussi  E., Hulata , G.  and Ron, M.(2014).  Identification of male-specific amh duplication, sexually differentially expressed genes and microRNAs at early embryonic development of Nile tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus .  BMC Genomics ,  15; 774 ( doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-774).
• Lourenco, D.A.L., Misztal, I., Tsuruta, S., Aguilar, I., Ezra, E., Ron, M., Shirak, A., and Weller , J. I . (2014)  Methods for genomic evaluation in a relatively small dairy population and the impact of inclusion of genotyped cows’ information in multiple-parity analyses .  J. Dairy Sci. 97 ; 1742-1752.
• Lourenco, D.A.L., Misztal, I., Tsuruta, S., Aguilar, Lawlor, T. J., Forni, S., and Weller, J. I. (2014)  Are evaluations on young genotyped animals benefiting from the past generations?  J. Dairy Sci. 97; 3930-3942.
• Weller, J. I., and Ezra, E. (2014)  Environmental and genetic factors affecting cow survival of Israeli Holsteins  J. Dairy Sci. 97 ; (In press).
• Weller, J. I ., Cole, J. B., VanRaden, P.M., and Wiggans, G. R.  (2014)  Application of the a posteriori granddaughter design to the Holstein genome.  Animal 8 ; 511–519. 
• Weller, J. I. , Glick, G., Shirak, A., Ezra, E., Seroussi, E., Shemesh, M., Zeron, Y., and Ron, M. (2014)  Predictive ability of selected subsets of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a moderately sized dairy cattle population.  Animal 8 ; 208–216.
• Weller, J. I., and Ezra, E. (2015) Environmental and genetic factors affecting cow survival of Israeli Holsteins. J. Dairy Sci. 98; 676–684.
• Weller, J. I., Stoop, W. M., Eding, H., Schrooten, C. and Ezra, E. (2015) Genomic evaluation of a relatively small dairy cattle population by combination with a larger population. J. Dairy Sci. 98; 4945–4955.
• Dor L., Shirak, A., Rosenfeld, H., Ashkenazi, I. M., Band, M. R., Korol, A., Ronin, Y., Seroussi, E., Weller, J. I., and Ron M. (2016). Identification of the sex-determining region in flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) Anim. Genet. doi: 10.1111/age.12486.
• Ezra, E., Van Straten, M., and Weller, J. I. (2016) Comparison of pure Holsteins to crossbred Holsteins with Norwegian Red cattle in first and second generations. Animal 10; 1254 - 1262.
• Nitzan,T., Slosman, T., Gutkovich, D., Weller, J. I., Hulata, G., Zak, T., Benet, A., and Cnaani, A. (2016). Maternal effects in the inheritance of cold tolerance in blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus). Environ.  Biol. Fish. 99; 975–981.
• Weller, J. I., and Ezra, E. (2016) Genetic analysis of calving traits by the multi-trait individual animal model. J. Dairy Sci. 99; 427–442.
• Weller, J. I., and Ezra, E. (2016) Genetic and phenotypic analysis of daily Israeli Holstein milk, fat and protein production as determined by a real-time milk analyzer. J. Dairy Sci. 99; 9782–9795.
• Reiner-Benaim, A. Ezra, E. and Weller, J. I. (2017) Optimization of a genomic breeding program for a moderately sized dairy cattle population. J. Dairy Sci. 100; 2892–2904.
• Dor L., Shirak, A., Rosenfeld, H., Meiri-Ashkenazi, I., Rubinstein, G., Seroussi, E., Weller, J. I. and Ron, M. (2018). Genetic stock identification of the Flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) in Lake Tiberias based on parent-offspring relationship. Bamidgeh 70; 1452.
• Seroussi, E., Shirak, A., Zak, T., Dor, L., Benet-Perlberg, A., Weller, J. I., and Ron, M. (2018). Quantitative trait loci on LGs 9 and 14 affect the reproductive interaction between two Oreochromis species, O. niloticus and O. aureus. Heredity (In press).
• Weller, J. I, Bickhart, D. M., Wiggans, G. R., Tooker, M. E., O’Connell, J. R., Jiang, J. Ron, M. and VanRaden, P. M. (2018). Determination of quantitative trait nucleotides by concordance analysis between quantitative trait loci and marker genotypes of US Holsteins. J. Dairy Sci. 101; (In press).

Patents

• Seroussi, E., Lewin, H. A., Band, M. R., Cohen-Zinder, M., Drackley, J. A., Loor, J. J, Ron, M., Shani, M. and Weller, J. I. (2006) Bovine ABCG2 gene missense mutations and uses thereof.  PCT/US2006/025117.
• Seroussi, E., Shiraq, A., Weller, J. I., and Ron, M. (2007) DNA traceability system in cattle, long-term DNA banking and genotyping by multiplexing of SNP markers. Provisional US Patent Appl. #182154.
• Cahana, A.,  Shirak, A., Karniol, B., Skalsky, Y., Weller, J.  I., Ron, M., and Seroussi, E. (2010) Genotyping method and means thereof for use in traceability schemes. PCT/IL2009/000588.

 Current Projects 

• BARD grant Project No. IS-4794-15R (362-0471). Title Determination of actual polymorphisms responsible for economic trait variation in dairy cattle. Principal Investigator, for 3 years. Budget:  Total: $300,000.  $156,000 for J. I. Weller, M. Ron and E. Seroussi.
• Israel Dairy Board, Project N. 362-0501.  Title:  Genetic and environmental analysis of Afilab data in order to estimate milk, fat, and protein lactation production.  Budget $12,500 per year.