A genome‐wide association study revealed five SNPs affecting 8‐month weight in sheep

• Published in: Animal genetics Vol. 51; no. 6; pp. 973 - 976
• Main Authors: Pasandideh, M., Gholizadeh, M., Rahimi‐Mianji, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.12.2020
• Subjects: Animals; body weight; Body Weight - genetics; Breeding; candidate gene; Chromosomes; Female; Genetic Association Studies - veterinary; Genetic diversity; Genetic factors; Genetic variance; Genome-wide association studies; Genomes; GWAS; Iran; Muscles; Phenotype; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Pregnancy; Puberty; Red Meat; Sheep; Sheep, Domestic - genetics; Sheep, Domestic - growth & development; Single-nucleotide polymorphism; Skeletal muscle; Weight; Iran; body weight; GWAS; candidate gene; sheep
• ISSN: 0268-9146; 1365-2052
• DOI: 10.1111/age.12996

Summary Lamb weight at 8 months of age is an important trait in the sheep industry in terms of the onset of puberty around this age; however, knowledge of its effective genetic factors is limited. Therefore, a GWAS using the 50K SNP‐Chip was performed on 96 Baluchi sheep to identify the genomic regions associated with 8‐month weight. The results of the present study revealed five SNPs on chromosomes 4, 14 and 16 at 5% chromosome‐wide significance level, jointly accounting for 0.95% of total genetic variance. Four genes – MTPN, HYDIN, LRGUK and ZFP90 – were found in 50 kb intervals around the significant SNPs, of which MTPN is involved in regulation of skeletal muscle growth. Our results may provide a new vision to identify the genomic regions affecting growth traits in sheep.