extremely significantp < 0.001
Using all 70 markers, GAP prediction in Q × RX showed an extremely significant positive correlation ( p < 0.001), r = 0.4819; using the 8 screened PIC > 0.25 and HWE-conforming markers, the correlation increased to r = 0.5755 ( p < 0.001); using the 10 significantly associated markers yielded a further increase to r = 0.5766 ( p < 0.001), representing the highest prediction accuracy among the populations.