Dataset Information

Selection signature analysis reveals genes underlying sheep milking performance.

ABSTRACT: Sheep milk is the most important feed resource for newborn lambs and an important food resource for humans. Sheep milk production and ingredients are influenced by genetic and environmental factors. In this study, we implemented selection signature analysis using Illumina Ovine SNP50 BeadChip data of 78 meat Lacaune and 103 milk Lacaune sheep, which have similar genetic backgrounds, from the Sheep HapMap project to identify candidate genes related to ovine milk traits. Since different methods can detect different variation types and complement each other, we used a haplotype-based method (hapFLK) to implement selection signature analysis. The results revealed six selection signature regions showing signs of being selected ( P<0.001 ): chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 6, 13 and 18. In addition, 38 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) related to sheep milk performance were identified in selection signature regions, which contain 334 candidate genes. Of those, SUCNR1 (succinate receptor 1) and PPARGC1A (PPARG coactivator 1 alpha) may be the most significant genes that affect sheep milking performance, which supply a significant indication for future studies to investigate candidate genes that play an important role in milk production and quality.

SUBMITTER: Yuan Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6859915 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Selection signature analysis reveals genes underlying sheep milking performance.

Yuan Zehu Z Li Wanhong W Li Fadi F Yue Xiangpeng X

Archives animal breeding 20190808 2

Sheep milk is the most important feed resource for newborn lambs and an important food resource for humans. Sheep milk production and ingredients are influenced by genetic and environmental factors. In this study, we implemented selection signature analysis using Illumina Ovine SNP50 BeadChip data of 78 meat Lacaune and 103 milk Lacaune sheep, which have similar genetic backgrounds, from the Sheep HapMap project to identify candidate genes related to ovine milk traits. Since different methods ca ...[more]

PMID: 31807661

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Project description:Compared to Chinese indigenous sheep, Western sheep have rapid growth rate, larger physique, and higher meat yield. These excellent Western sheep were introduced into China for crossbreeding to expedite the enhancement of production performance and mutton quality in local breeds. Here, we investigated population genetic structure and genome-wide selection signatures among the Chinese indigenous sheep and the introduced sheep based on whole-genome resequencing data. The PCA, N-J tree and ADMIXTURE results showed significant genetic difference between Chinese indigenous sheep and introduced sheep. The nucleotide diversity (π) and linkage disequilibrium (LD) decay results indicated that the genomic diversity of introduced breeds were lower. Then, Fst & π ratio, XP-EHH, and de-correlated composite of multiple signals (DCMS) methods were used to detect the selection signals. The results showed that we identified important candidate genes related to growth rate and body size in the introduced breeds. Selected genes with stronger selection signatures are associated with growth rate (CRADD), embryonic development (BVES, LIN28B, and WNT11), body size (HMGA2, MSRB3, and PTCH1), muscle development and fat metabolism (MSTN, PDE3A, LGALS12, GGPS1, and SAR1B), wool color (ASIP), and hair development (KRT71, KRT74, and IRF2BP2). Thus, these genes have the potential to serve as candidate genes for enhancing the growth traits of Chinese indigenous sheep. We also identified tail-length trait-related candidate genes (HOXB13, LIN28A, PAX3, and VEGFA) in Chinese long-tailed breeds. Among these genes, HOXB13 is the main candidate gene for sheep tail length phenotype. LIN28A, PAX3, and VEGFA are related to embryonic development and angiogenesis, so these genes may be candidate genes for sheep tail type traits. This study will serve as a foundation for further genetic improvement of Chinese indigenous sheep and as a reference for studies related to growth and development of sheep.

Project description:Natural selection and domestication have shaped modern sheep populations into a vast range of phenotypically diverse breeds. Among these breeds, dairy sheep have a smaller population than meat sheep and wool sheep, and less research is performed on them, but the lactation mechanism in dairy sheep is critically important for improving animal-production methods. In this study, whole-genome sequences were generated from 10 sheep breeds, including 57 high-milk-yield sheep and 44 low-milk-yield sheep, to investigate the genetic signatures of milk production in dairy sheep, and 59,864,820 valid SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) were kept after quality control to perform population-genetic-structure analyses, gene-detection analyses, and gene-function-validation analyses. For the population-genetic-structure analyses, we carried out PCA (Principal Component Analysis), as well as neighbor-joining tree and structure analyses to classify different sheep populations. The sheep used in our study were well distributed in ten groups, with the high-milk-yield-group populations close to each other and the low-milk-yield-group populations showing similar classifications. To perform an exact signal-selection analysis, we used three different methods to find SNPs to perform gene-annotation analyses within the 995 common regions derived from the fixation index (FST), nucleotide diversity (Ɵπ), and heterozygosity rate (ZHp) results. In total, we found 553 genes that were located in these regions. These genes mainly participate in the protein-binding pathway and the nucleoplasm-interaction pathway, as revealed by the GO- and KEGG-function-enrichment analyses. After the gene selection and function analyses, we found that FCGR3A, CTSK, CTSS, ARNT, GHR, SLC29A4, ROR1, and TNRC18 were potentially related to sheep-milk-production traits. We chose the strongly selected genes, FCGR3A, CTSK, CTSS, and ARNT during the signal-selection analysis to perform a RT-qPCR (Reale time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction) experiment to validate their expression-level relationship with milk production, and the results showed that FCGR3A has a significant negative relationship with sheep-milk production, while other three genes did not show any positive or negative relations. In this study, it was discovered and proven that the candidate gene FCGR3A potentially contributes to the milk production of dairy sheep and a basis was laid for the further study of the genetic mechanism underlying the strong milk-production traits of sheep.

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Selection signature analysis reveals genes underlying sheep milking performance.

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Selection signature analysis reveals genes underlying sheep milking performance.

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