1
|
Freitas FAO, Brito LF, Fanalli SL, Gonçales JL, da Silva BPM, Durval MC, Ciconello FN, de Oliveira CS, Nascimento LE, Gervásio IC, Gomes JD, Moreira GCM, Silva-Vignato B, Coutinho LL, de Almeida VV, Cesar ASM. Identification of eQTLs using different sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with carcass and body composition traits in pigs. BMC Genomics 2024; 25:14. [PMID: 38166730 PMCID: PMC10759680 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-023-09863-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mapping expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) in skeletal muscle tissue in pigs is crucial for understanding the relationship between genetic variation and phenotypic expression of carcass traits in meat animals. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of different sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), including scenarios removing SNPs pruned for linkage disequilibrium (LD) and SNPs derived from SNP chip arrays and RNA-seq data from liver, brain, and skeletal muscle tissues, on the identification of eQTLs in the Longissimus lumborum tissue, associated with carcass and body composition traits in Large White pigs. The SNPs identified from muscle mRNA were combined with SNPs identified in the brain and liver tissue transcriptomes, as well as SNPs from the GGP Porcine 50 K SNP chip array. Cis- and trans-eQTLs were identified based on the skeletal muscle gene expression level, followed by functional genomic analyses and statistical associations with carcass and body composition traits in Large White pigs. RESULTS The number of cis- and trans-eQTLs identified across different sets of SNPs (scenarios) ranged from 261 to 2,539 and from 29 to 13,721, respectively. Furthermore, 6,180 genes were modulated by eQTLs in at least one of the scenarios evaluated. The eQTLs identified were not significantly associated with carcass and body composition traits but were significantly enriched for many traits in the "Meat and Carcass" type QTL. The scenarios with the highest number of cis- (n = 304) and trans- (n = 5,993) modulated genes were the unpruned and LD-pruned SNP set scenarios identified from the muscle transcriptome. These genes include 84 transcription factor coding genes. CONCLUSIONS After LD pruning, the set of SNPs identified based on the transcriptome of the skeletal muscle tissue of pigs resulted in the highest number of genes modulated by eQTLs. Most eQTLs are of the trans type and are associated with genes influencing complex traits in pigs, such as transcription factors and enhancers. Furthermore, the incorporation of SNPs from other genomic regions to the set of SNPs identified in the porcine skeletal muscle transcriptome contributed to the identification of eQTLs that had not been identified based on the porcine skeletal muscle transcriptome alone.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Felipe André Oliveira Freitas
- Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, 13416-000, SP, Brazil
- Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Luiz F Brito
- Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
- Faculty of Animal Science and Food Engineering, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga, 13635- 900, SP, Brazil
| | - Simara Larissa Fanalli
- Faculty of Animal Science and Food Engineering, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga, 13635- 900, SP, Brazil
| | - Janaína Lustosa Gonçales
- Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, 13416-000, SP, Brazil
| | | | - Mariah Castro Durval
- Faculty of Animal Science and Food Engineering, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga, 13635- 900, SP, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Nery Ciconello
- Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, 13416-000, SP, Brazil
| | | | | | - Izally Carvalho Gervásio
- Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, 13416-000, SP, Brazil
| | - Julia Dezen Gomes
- Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, 13416-000, SP, Brazil
| | | | - Bárbara Silva-Vignato
- Faculty of Animal Science and Food Engineering, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga, 13635- 900, SP, Brazil
| | - Luiz Lehmann Coutinho
- Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, 13416-000, SP, Brazil
| | - Vivian Vezzoni de Almeida
- College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, 74001-970, GO, Brazil
| | - Aline Silva Mello Cesar
- Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, 13416-000, SP, Brazil.
- Faculty of Animal Science and Food Engineering, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga, 13635- 900, SP, Brazil.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Atashi H, Chen Y, Wilmot H, Bastin C, Vanderick S, Hubin X, Gengler N. Single-step genome-wide association analyses for selected infrared-predicted cheese-making traits in Walloon Holstein cows. J Dairy Sci 2023; 106:7816-7831. [PMID: 37567464 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2022-23206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023]
Abstract
This study aimed to perform genome-wide association study to identify genomic regions associated with milk production and cheese-making properties (CMP) in Walloon Holstein cows. The studied traits were milk yield, fat percentage, protein percentage, casein percentage (CNP), calcium content, somatic cell score (SCS), coagulation time, curd firmness after 30 min from rennet addition, and titratable acidity. The used data have been collected from 2014 to 2020 on 78,073 first-parity (485,218 test-day records), 48,766 second-parity (284,942 test-day records), and 21,948 third-parity (105,112 test-day records) Holstein cows distributed in 671 herds in the Walloon Region of Belgium. Data of 565,533 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), located on 29 Bos taurus autosomes (BTA) of 6,617 animals (1,712 males), were used. Random regression test-day models were used to estimate genetic parameters through the Bayesian Gibbs sampling method. The SNP solutions were estimated using a single-step genomic BLUP approach. The proportion of the total additive genetic variance explained by windows of 50 consecutive SNPs (with an average size of ∼216 KB) was calculated, and regions accounting for at least 1.0% of the total additive genetic variance were used to search for positional candidate genes. Heritability estimates for the studied traits ranged from 0.10 (SCS) to 0.53 (CNP), 0.10 (SCS) to 0.50 (CNP), and 0.12 (SCS) to 0.49 (CNP) in the first, second, and third parity, respectively. Genome-wide association analyses identified 6 genomic regions (BTA1, BTA14 [4 regions], and BTA20) associated with the considered traits. Genes including the SLC37A1 (BTA1), SHARPIN, MROH1, DGAT1, FAM83H, TIGD5, MROH6, NAPRT, ADGRB1, GML, LYPD2, JRK (BTA14), and TRIO (BTA20) were identified as positional candidate genes for the studied CMP. The findings of this study help to unravel the genomic background of a cow's ability for cheese production and can be used for the future implementation and use of genomic evaluation to improve the cheese-making traits in Walloon Holstein cows.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- H Atashi
- TERRA Teaching and Research Center, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium; Department of Animal Science, Shiraz University, 71441-13131 Shiraz, Iran.
| | - Y Chen
- TERRA Teaching and Research Center, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
| | - H Wilmot
- TERRA Teaching and Research Center, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium; National Fund for Scientific Research (FRS-FNRS), 1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - C Bastin
- National Fund for Scientific Research (FRS-FNRS), 1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - S Vanderick
- TERRA Teaching and Research Center, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
| | - X Hubin
- Elevéo asbl Awé Group, 5590 Ciney, Belgium
| | - N Gengler
- TERRA Teaching and Research Center, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Gutiérrez-Reinoso MA, Aponte PM, García-Herreros M. Genomic and Phenotypic Udder Evaluation for Dairy Cattle Selection: A Review. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:ani13101588. [PMID: 37238017 DOI: 10.3390/ani13101588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The traditional point of view regarding dairy cattle selection has been challenged by recent genomic studies indicating that livestock productivity prediction can be redefined based on the evaluation of genomic and phenotypic data. Several studies that included different genomic-derived traits only indicated that interactions among them or even with conventional phenotypic evaluation criteria require further elucidation. Unfortunately, certain genomic and phenotypic-derived traits have been shown to be secondary factors influencing dairy production. Thus, these factors, as well as evaluation criteria, need to be defined. Owing to the variety of genomic and phenotypic udder-derived traits which may affect the modern dairy cow functionality and conformation, a definition of currently important traits in the broad sense is indicated. This is essential for cattle productivity and dairy sustainability. The main objective of the present review is to elucidate the possible relationships among genomic and phenotypic udder evaluation characteristics to define the most relevant traits related to selection for function and conformation in dairy cattle. This review aims to examine the potential impact of various udder-related evaluation criteria on dairy cattle productivity and explore how to mitigate the adverse effects of compromised udder conformation and functionality. Specifically, we will consider the implications for udder health, welfare, longevity, and production-derived traits. Subsequently, we will address several concerns covering the application of genomic and phenotypic evaluation criteria with emphasis on udder-related traits in dairy cattle selection as well as its evolution from origins to the present and future prospects.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A Gutiérrez-Reinoso
- Carrera de Medicina Veterinaria, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi (UTC), Latacunga 0501491, Ecuador
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Animal, Departamento de Ciencia Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Concepción (UdeC), Chillán 3780000, Chile
| | - Pedro M Aponte
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales (COCIBA), Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito 170157, Ecuador
- Colegio de Ciencias de la Salud, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito 170157, Ecuador
- Campus Cumbayá, Instituto de Investigaciones en Biomedicina "One-Health", Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito 170157, Ecuador
| | - Manuel García-Herreros
- Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária (INIAV), 2005-048 Santarém, Portugal
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Lopdell TJ. Using QTL to Identify Genes and Pathways Underlying the Regulation and Production of Milk Components in Cattle. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:ani13050911. [PMID: 36899768 PMCID: PMC10000085 DOI: 10.3390/ani13050911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Milk is a complex liquid, and the concentrations of many of its components are under genetic control. Many genes and pathways are known to regulate milk composition, and the purpose of this review is to highlight how the discoveries of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for milk phenotypes can elucidate these pathways. The main body of this review focuses primarily on QTL discovered in cattle (Bos taurus) as a model species for the biology of lactation, and there are occasional references to sheep genetics. The following section describes a range of techniques that can be used to help identify the causative genes underlying QTL when the underlying mechanism involves the regulation of gene expression. As genotype and phenotype databases continue to grow and diversify, new QTL will continue to be discovered, and although proving the causality of underlying genes and variants remains difficult, these new data sets will further enhance our understanding of the biology of lactation.
Collapse
|
5
|
Yao D, Guo D, Zhang Y, Chen Z, Gao X, Xing G, Yang X, Wang X, Di S, Cai J, Niu B. Identification of mutations in porcine STAT5A that contributes to the transcription of CISH. Front Vet Sci 2023; 9:1090833. [PMID: 36733428 PMCID: PMC9887310 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.1090833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Identification of causative genes or genetic variants associated with phenotype traits benefits the genetic improvement of animals. CISH plays a role in immunity and growth, however, the upstream transcriptional factors of porcine CISH and the genetic variations in these factors remain unclear. In this study, we firstly identified the minimal core promoter of porcine CISH and confirmed the existence of STATx binding sites. Overexpression and RT-qPCR demonstrated STAT5A increased CISH transcriptional activity (P < 0.01) and mRNA expression (P < 0.01), while GATA1 inhibited CISH transcriptional activity (P < 0.01) and the following mRNA expression (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Then, the putative functional genetic variations of porcine STAT5A were screened and a PCR-SSCP was established for genotype g.508A>C and g.566C>T. Population genetic analysis showed the A allele frequency of g.508A>C and C allele frequency of g.566C>T was 0.61 and 0.94 in Min pigs, respectively, while these two alleles were fixed in the Landrace population. Statistical analysis showed that Min piglets with CC genotype at g.566C>T or Hap1: AC had higher 28-day body weight, 35-day body weight, and ADG than TC or Hap3: CT animals (P < 0.05, P < 0.05). Further luciferase activity assay demonstrated that the activity of g.508A>C in the C allele was lower than the A allele (P < 0.05). Collectively, the present study demonstrated that STAT5A positively regulated porcine CISH transcription, and SNP g.566C>T in the STAT5A was associated with the Min piglet growth trait.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Diwen Yao
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Dongchun Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Harbin, China
| | - Yingkun Zhang
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Zhihua Chen
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Xiaowen Gao
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Guiling Xing
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Xiuqin Yang
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Xibiao Wang
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | - Shengwei Di
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
| | | | - Buyue Niu
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China,*Correspondence: Buyue Niu ✉
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Prowse-Wilkins CP, Lopdell TJ, Xiang R, Vander Jagt CJ, Littlejohn MD, Chamberlain AJ, Goddard ME. Genetic variation in histone modifications and gene expression identifies regulatory variants in the mammary gland of cattle. BMC Genomics 2022; 23:815. [PMID: 36482302 PMCID: PMC9733386 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-022-09002-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Causal variants for complex traits, such as eQTL are often found in non-coding regions of the genome, where they are hypothesised to influence phenotypes by regulating gene expression. Many regulatory regions are marked by histone modifications, which can be assayed by chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq). Sequence reads from ChIP-seq form peaks at putative regulatory regions, which may reflect the amount of regulatory activity at this region. Therefore, eQTL which are also associated with differences in histone modifications are excellent candidate causal variants. RESULTS We assayed the histone modifications H3K4Me3, H3K4Me1 and H3K27ac and mRNA in the mammary gland of up to 400 animals. We identified QTL for peak height (histone QTL), exon expression (eeQTL), allele specific expression (aseQTL) and allele specific binding (asbQTL). By intersecting these results, we identify variants which may influence gene expression by altering regulatory regions of the genome, and may be causal variants for other traits. Lastly, we find that these variants are found in putative transcription factor binding sites, identifying a mechanism for the effect of many eQTL. CONCLUSIONS We find that allele specific and traditional QTL analysis often identify the same genetic variants and provide evidence that many eQTL are regulatory variants which alter activity at regulatory regions of the bovine genome. Our work provides methodological and biological updates on how regulatory mechanisms interplay at multi-omics levels.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Claire P Prowse-Wilkins
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, Victoria, 3082, Australia.
- Faculty of Veterinary & Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
| | - Thomas J Lopdell
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Private Bag 3016, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand
| | - Ruidong Xiang
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, Victoria, 3082, Australia
- Faculty of Veterinary & Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - Christy J Vander Jagt
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, Victoria, 3082, Australia
| | - Mathew D Littlejohn
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Private Bag 3016, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand
| | - Amanda J Chamberlain
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, Victoria, 3082, Australia
| | - Michael E Goddard
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, Victoria, 3082, Australia
- Faculty of Veterinary & Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Atashi H, Bastin C, Wilmot H, Vanderick S, Hubin X, Gengler N. Genome-wide association study for selected cheese-making properties in Dual-Purpose Belgian Blue cows. J Dairy Sci 2022; 105:8972-8988. [PMID: 36175238 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2022-21780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
This study aimed to estimate genetic parameters and identify genomic region(s) associated with selected cheese-making properties (CMP) in Dual-Purpose Belgian Blue (DPBB) cows. Edited data were 46,301 test-day records of milk yield, fat percentage, protein percentage, casein percentage, milk calcium content (CC), coagulation time (CT), curd firmness after 30 min from rennet addition (a30), and milk titratable acidity (MTA) collected from 2014 to 2020 on 4,077 first-parity (26,027 test-day records), and 3,258 second-parity DPBB cows (20,274 test-day records) distributed in 124 herds in the Walloon Region of Belgium. Data of 28,266 SNP, located on 29 Bos taurus autosomes (BTA) of 1,699 animals were used. Random regression test-day models were used to estimate genetic parameters through the Bayesian Gibbs sampling method. The SNP solutions were estimated using a single-step genomic BLUP approach. The proportion of the total additive genetic variance explained by windows of 25 consecutive SNPs (with an average size of ∼2 Mb) was calculated, and regions accounting for at least 1.0% of the total additive genetic variance were used to search for candidate genes. Heritability estimates for the included CMP ranged from 0.19 (CC) to 0.50 (MTA), and 0.24 (CC) to 0.41 (MTA) in the first and second parity, respectively. The genetic correlation estimated between CT and a30 varied from -0.61 to -0.41 and from -0.55 to -0.38 in the first and second lactations, respectively. Negative genetic correlations were found between CT and milk yield and composition, while those estimated between curd firmness and milk composition were positive. Genome-wide association analyses results identified 4 genomic regions (BTA1, BTA3, BTA7, and BTA11) associated with the considered CMP. The identified genomic regions showed contrasting results between parities and among the different stages of each parity. It suggests that different sets of candidate genes underlie the phenotypic expression of the considered CMP between parities and lactation stages of each parity. The findings of this study can be used for future implementation and use of genomic evaluation to improve the cheese-making traits in DPBB cows.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- H Atashi
- TERRA Teaching and Research Center, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium; Department of Animal Science, Shiraz University, 71441-65186 Shiraz, Iran.
| | - C Bastin
- Walloon Breeders Association, 5590 Ciney, Belgium
| | - H Wilmot
- TERRA Teaching and Research Center, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium; National Fund for Scientific Research (FRS-FNRS), Rue d'Egmont 5, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - S Vanderick
- TERRA Teaching and Research Center, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
| | - X Hubin
- Walloon Breeders Association, 5590 Ciney, Belgium
| | - N Gengler
- TERRA Teaching and Research Center, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Dong B, Mehran S, Yang Y, Jing H, Liang L, Guo X, Zhang Q. Effect of leptin on the growth and expression of STAT3 in yak mammary epithelial cells. Vet World 2022; 15:2141-2150. [DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.2141-2150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background and Aim: Leptin (LEP) is an autocrine and paracrine factor produced by the fat pad and acinar epithelial cells of the breast. This study aimed to investigate the effects of LEP on yak mammary epithelial cells (YMECs) and the expression of STAT3. In addition, we evaluated the possible effects of prolactin (PRL) on the function of LEP.
Materials and Methods: The YMECs were treated with 0, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 ng/mL LEP for 48 h in the absence of PRL and the presence of 500 ng/mL PRL. The growth activity of YMECs was measured using the cell counting kit-8 assay. The changes in the lactation signaling pathway-related factor STAT3 were detected at the mRNA, protein, and protein phosphorylation levels using the reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. To explore whether LEP affects the activation of STAT3 through JAK2/JAK3 in YMECs, the JAK2/3 signaling pathway inhibitor AG490 was used at a fixed concentration of LEP.
Results: Each concentration of LEP significantly promoted the expression of STAT3 mRNA (p < 0.05) in YMECs in the presence of PRL. In the absence of PRL, all concentrations of LEP were found to inhibit the expression of the STAT3 protein (p < 0.05). The expression of the STAT3 protein in YMECs was found to first increase followed by a decrease with an increase in the concentration of LEP. In addition, the phosphorylation level of STAT3 increased in all groups, except the 100 ng/mL concentration group. The STAT3 phosphorylation trend and protein expression were different, such that the level of protein phosphorylation was higher than that of the STAT3 protein (p < 0.05). The addition of AG490 reduced the expression of the STAT3 mRNA, STAT3 protein, and STAT3 phosphorylation in the LEP and LEP + PRL groups.
Conclusion: Altogether, the results indicated that different concentrations of LEP exerted varying effects on the growth of YMECs and the expression of STAT3, and the activity of STAT3 was primarily activated by JAK2. The addition of LEP can effectively inhibit the downregulation of the JAK2/STAT3 signal pathway by AG490, mitigate its inhibitory effect on the proliferation of YMECs, and reduce apoptosis. We believe that these findings will provide a theoretical and experimental basis for future research in this field.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Baoxia Dong
- Department of Animal Medicine, College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China
| | - Sidra Mehran
- Department of Animal Medicine, College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China
| | - Yuying Yang
- Department of Animal Medicine, College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China
| | - Haixia Jing
- Department of Animal Medicine, College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China
| | - Lin Liang
- Department of Biotechnology, Kunlun College, Qinghai University, Xining, China
| | - Xiaoyu Guo
- Department of Animal Medicine, College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China
| | - Qinwen Zhang
- Department of Animal Medicine, College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, China
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Knutsen TM, Olsen HG, Ketto IA, Sundsaasen KK, Kohler A, Tafintseva V, Svendsen M, Kent MP, Lien S. Genetic variants associated with two major bovine milk fatty acids offer opportunities to breed for altered milk fat composition. Genet Sel Evol 2022; 54:35. [PMID: 35619070 PMCID: PMC9137198 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-022-00731-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 05/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Although bovine milk is regarded as healthy and nutritious, its high content of saturated fatty acids (FA) may be harmful to cardiovascular health. Palmitic acid (C16:0) is the predominant saturated FA in milk with adverse health effects that could be countered by substituting it with higher levels of unsaturated FA, such as oleic acid (C18:1cis-9). In this work, we performed genome-wide association analyses for milk fatty acids predicted from FTIR spectroscopy data using 1811 Norwegian Red cattle genotyped and imputed to a high-density 777k single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-array. In a follow-up analysis, we used imputed whole-genome sequence data to detect genetic variants that are involved in FTIR-predicted levels of C16:0 and C18:1cis-9 and explore the transcript profile and protein level of candidate genes. Results Genome-wise significant associations were detected for C16:0 on Bos taurus (BTA) autosomes 11, 16 and 27, and for C18:1cis-9 on BTA5, 13 and 19. Closer examination of a significant locus on BTA11 identified the PAEP gene, which encodes the milk protein β-lactoglobulin, as a particularly attractive positional candidate gene. At this locus, we discovered a tightly linked cluster of genetic variants in coding and regulatory sequences that have opposing effects on the levels of C16:0 and C18:1cis-9. The favourable haplotype, linked to reduced levels of C16:0 and increased levels of C18:1cis-9 was also associated with a marked reduction in PAEP expression and β-lactoglobulin protein levels. β-lactoglobulin is the most abundant whey protein in milk and lower levels are associated with important dairy production parameters such as improved cheese yield. Conclusions The genetic variants detected in this study may be used in breeding to produce milk with an improved FA health-profile and enhanced cheese-making properties. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12711-022-00731-9.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Hanne Gro Olsen
- Centre for Integrative Genetics, Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Isaya Appelesy Ketto
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences,, Ås, Norway
| | - Kristil Kindem Sundsaasen
- Centre for Integrative Genetics, Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Achim Kohler
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Valeria Tafintseva
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | | | - Matthew Peter Kent
- Centre for Integrative Genetics, Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Sigbjørn Lien
- Centre for Integrative Genetics, Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
van den Berg I, Ho PN, Nguyen TV, Haile-Mariam M, Luke TDW, Pryce JE. Using mid-infrared spectroscopy to increase GWAS power to detect QTL associated with blood urea nitrogen. Genet Sel Evol 2022; 54:27. [PMID: 35436852 PMCID: PMC9014603 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-022-00719-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) is an indicator trait for urinary nitrogen excretion. Measuring BUN level requires a blood sample, which limits the number of records that can be obtained. Alternatively, BUN can be predicted using mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy of a milk sample and thus records become available on many more cows through routine milk recording processes. The genetic correlation between MIR predicted BUN (MBUN) and BUN is 0.90. Hence, genetically, BUN and MBUN can be considered as the same trait. The objective of our study was to perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for BUN and MBUN, compare these two GWAS and detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for both traits, and compare the detected QTL with previously reported QTL for milk urea nitrogen (MUN). The dataset used for our analyses included 2098 and 18,120 phenotypes for BUN and MBUN, respectively, and imputed whole-genome sequence data. The GWAS for MBUN was carried out using either the full dataset, the 2098 cows with records for BUN, or 2000 randomly selected cows, so that the dataset size is comparable to that for BUN. The GWAS results for BUN and MBUN were very different, in spite of the strong genetic correlation between the two traits. We detected 12 QTL for MBUN, on bovine chromosomes 2, 3, 9, 11, 12, 14 and X, and one QTL for BUN on chromosome 13. The QTL detected on chromosomes 11, 14 and X overlapped with QTL detected for MUN. The GWAS results were highly sensitive to the subset of records used. Hence, caution is warranted when interpreting GWAS based on small datasets, such as for BUN. MBUN may provide an attractive alternative to perform a more powerful GWAS to detect QTL for BUN.
Collapse
|
11
|
van den Berg I, Ho PN, Nguyen TV, Haile-Mariam M, MacLeod IM, Beatson PR, O'Connor E, Pryce JE. GWAS and genomic prediction of milk urea nitrogen in Australian and New Zealand dairy cattle. Genet Sel Evol 2022; 54:15. [PMID: 35183113 PMCID: PMC8858489 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-022-00707-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Urinary nitrogen leakage is an environmental concern in dairy cattle. Selection for reduced urinary nitrogen leakage may be done using indicator traits such as milk urea nitrogen (MUN). The result of a previous study indicated that the genetic correlation between MUN in Australia (AUS) and MUN in New Zealand (NZL) was only low to moderate (between 0.14 and 0.58). In this context, an alternative is to select sequence variants based on genome-wide association studies (GWAS) with a view to improve genomic prediction accuracies. A GWAS can also be used to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with MUN. Therefore, our objectives were to perform within-country GWAS and a meta-GWAS for MUN using records from up to 33,873 dairy cows and imputed whole-genome sequence data, to compare QTL detected in the GWAS for MUN in AUS and NZL, and to use sequence variants selected from the meta-GWAS to improve the prediction accuracy for MUN based on a joint AUS-NZL reference set. Results Using the meta-GWAS, we detected 14 QTL for MUN, located on chromosomes 1, 6, 11, 14, 19, 22, 26 and the X chromosome. The three most significant QTL encompassed the casein genes on chromosome 6, PAEP on chromosome 11 and DGAT1 on chromosome 14. We selected 50,000 sequence variants that had the same direction of effect for MUN in AUS and MUN in NZL and that were most significant in the meta-analysis for the GWAS. The selected sequence variants yielded a genetic correlation between MUN in AUS and MUN in NZL of 0.95 and substantially increased prediction accuracy in both countries. Conclusions Our results demonstrate how the sharing of data between two countries can increase the power of a GWAS and increase the accuracy of genomic prediction using a multi-country reference population and sequence variants selected based on a meta-GWAS. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12711-022-00707-9.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Irene van den Berg
- Centre for AgriBioscience, Agriculture Victoria, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, AgriBioVIC, 3083, Australia.
| | - Phuong N Ho
- Centre for AgriBioscience, Agriculture Victoria, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, AgriBioVIC, 3083, Australia
| | - Tuan V Nguyen
- Centre for AgriBioscience, Agriculture Victoria, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, AgriBioVIC, 3083, Australia
| | - Mekonnen Haile-Mariam
- Centre for AgriBioscience, Agriculture Victoria, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, AgriBioVIC, 3083, Australia
| | - Iona M MacLeod
- Centre for AgriBioscience, Agriculture Victoria, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, AgriBioVIC, 3083, Australia
| | | | | | - Jennie E Pryce
- Centre for AgriBioscience, Agriculture Victoria, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, AgriBioVIC, 3083, Australia.,School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Reynolds EGM, Lopdell T, Wang Y, Tiplady KM, Harland CS, Johnson TJJ, Neeley C, Carnie K, Sherlock RG, Couldrey C, Davis SR, Harris BL, Spelman RJ, Garrick DJ, Littlejohn MD. Non-additive QTL mapping of lactation traits in 124,000 cattle reveals novel recessive loci. Genet Sel Evol 2022; 54:5. [PMID: 35073835 PMCID: PMC8785530 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-021-00694-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Deleterious recessive conditions have been primarily studied in the context of Mendelian diseases. Recently, several deleterious recessive mutations with large effects were discovered via non-additive genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of quantitative growth and developmental traits in cattle, which showed that quantitative traits can be used as proxies of genetic disorders when such traits are indicative of whole-animal health status. We reasoned that lactation traits in cattle might also reflect genetic disorders, given the increased energy demands of lactation and the substantial stresses imposed on the animal. In this study, we screened more than 124,000 cows for recessive effects based on lactation traits. RESULTS We discovered five novel quantitative trait loci (QTL) that are associated with large recessive impacts on three milk yield traits, with these loci presenting missense variants in the DOCK8, IL4R, KIAA0556, and SLC25A4 genes or premature stop variants in the ITGAL, LRCH4, and RBM34 genes, as candidate causal mutations. For two milk composition traits, we identified several previously reported additive QTL that display small dominance effects. By contrasting results from milk yield and milk composition phenotypes, we note differing genetic architectures. Compared to milk composition phenotypes, milk yield phenotypes had lower heritabilities and were associated with fewer additive QTL but had a higher non-additive genetic variance and were associated with a higher proportion of loci exhibiting dominance. CONCLUSIONS We identified large-effect recessive QTL which are segregating at surprisingly high frequencies in cattle. We speculate that the differences in genetic architecture between milk yield and milk composition phenotypes derive from underlying dissimilarities in the cellular and molecular representation of these traits, with yield phenotypes acting as a better proxy of underlying biological disorders through presentation of a larger number of major recessive impacts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Thomas Lopdell
- Livestock Improvement Corporation, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Yu Wang
- Livestock Improvement Corporation, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Kathryn M. Tiplady
- Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
- Livestock Improvement Corporation, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | | | | | | | - Katie Carnie
- Livestock Improvement Corporation, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Mathew D. Littlejohn
- Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
- Livestock Improvement Corporation, Hamilton, New Zealand
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Overlapping haplotype blocks indicate shared genomic regions between a composite beef cattle breed and its founder breeds. Livest Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.livsci.2021.104747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
|
14
|
Pedrosa VB, Schenkel FS, Chen SY, Oliveira HR, Casey TM, Melka MG, Brito LF. Genomewide Association Analyses of Lactation Persistency and Milk Production Traits in Holstein Cattle Based on Imputed Whole-Genome Sequence Data. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:genes12111830. [PMID: 34828436 PMCID: PMC8624223 DOI: 10.3390/genes12111830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2021] [Revised: 11/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Lactation persistency and milk production are among the most economically important traits in the dairy industry. In this study, we explored the association of over 6.1 million imputed whole-genome sequence variants with lactation persistency (LP), milk yield (MILK), fat yield (FAT), fat percentage (FAT%), protein yield (PROT), and protein percentage (PROT%) in North American Holstein cattle. We identified 49, 3991, 2607, 4459, 805, and 5519 SNPs significantly associated with LP, MILK, FAT, FAT%, PROT, and PROT%, respectively. Various known associations were confirmed while several novel candidate genes were also revealed, including ARHGAP35, NPAS1, TMEM160, ZC3H4, SAE1, ZMIZ1, PPIF, LDB2, ABI3, SERPINB6, and SERPINB9 for LP; NIM1K, ZNF131, GABRG1, GABRA2, DCHS1, and SPIDR for MILK; NR6A1, OLFML2A, EXT2, POLD1, GOT1, and ETV6 for FAT; DPP6, LRRC26, and the KCN gene family for FAT%; CDC14A, RTCA, HSTN, and ODAM for PROT; and HERC3, HERC5, LALBA, CCL28, and NEURL1 for PROT%. Most of these genes are involved in relevant gene ontology (GO) terms such as fatty acid homeostasis, transporter regulator activity, response to progesterone and estradiol, response to steroid hormones, and lactation. The significant genomic regions found contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms related to LP and milk production in North American Holstein cattle.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Victor B. Pedrosa
- Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; (V.B.P.); (S.-Y.C.); (H.R.O.); (T.M.C.)
- Department of Animal Sciences, State University of Ponta Grossa, Ponta Grossa 84030-900, Brazil
| | - Flavio S. Schenkel
- Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock, Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G2W1, Canada;
| | - Shi-Yi Chen
- Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; (V.B.P.); (S.-Y.C.); (H.R.O.); (T.M.C.)
- Farm Animal Genetic Resources Exploration and Innovation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Animal Science & Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Hinayah R. Oliveira
- Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; (V.B.P.); (S.-Y.C.); (H.R.O.); (T.M.C.)
- Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock, Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G2W1, Canada;
| | - Theresa M. Casey
- Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; (V.B.P.); (S.-Y.C.); (H.R.O.); (T.M.C.)
| | - Melkaye G. Melka
- Department of Animal and Food Science, University of Wisconsin River Falls, River Falls, WI 54022, USA;
| | - Luiz F. Brito
- Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; (V.B.P.); (S.-Y.C.); (H.R.O.); (T.M.C.)
- Correspondence:
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Buaban S, Lengnudum K, Boonkum W, Phakdeedindan P. Genome-wide association study on milk production and somatic cell score for Thai dairy cattle using weighted single-step approach with random regression test-day model. J Dairy Sci 2021; 105:468-494. [PMID: 34756438 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2020-19826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2020] [Accepted: 08/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies are a powerful tool to identify genomic regions and variants associated with phenotypes. However, only limited mutual confirmation from different studies is available. The objectives of this study were to identify genomic regions as well as genes and pathways associated with the first-lactation milk, fat, protein, and total solid yields; fat, protein, and total solid percentage; and somatic cell score (SCS) in a Thai dairy cattle population. Effects of SNPs were estimated by a weighted single-step GWAS, which back-solved the genomic breeding values predicted using single-step genomic BLUP (ssGBLUP) fitting a single-trait random regression test-day model. Genomic regions that explained at least 0.5% of the total genetic variance were selected for further analyses of candidate genes. Despite the small number of genotyped animals, genomic predictions led to an improvement in the accuracy over the traditional BLUP. Genomic predictions using weighted ssGBLUP were slightly better than the ssGBLUP. The genomic regions associated with milk production traits contained 210 candidate genes on 19 chromosomes [Bos taurus autosome (BTA) 1 to 7, 9, 11 to 16, 20 to 21, 26 to 27 and 29], whereas 21 candidate genes on 3 chromosomes (BTA 11, 16, and 21) were associated with SCS. Many genomic regions explained a small fraction of the genetic variance, indicating polygenic inheritance of the studied traits. Several candidate genes coincided with previous reports for milk production traits in Holstein cattle, especially a large region of genes on BTA14. We identified 141 and 5 novel genes related to milk production and SCS, respectively. These novel genes were also found to be functionally related to heat tolerance (e.g., SLC45A2, IRAG1, and LOC101902172), longevity (e.g., SYT10 and LOC101903327), and fertility (e.g., PAG1). These findings may be attributed to indirect selection in our population. Identified biological networks including intracellular cell transportation and protein catabolism implicate milk production, whereas the immunological pathways such as lymphocyte activation are closely related to SCS. Further studies are required to validate our findings before exploiting them in genomic selection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- S Buaban
- Bureau of Animal Husbandry and Genetic Improvement, Department of Livestock Development, Pathum Thani 12000, Thailand
| | - K Lengnudum
- Bureau of Biotechnology in Livestock Production, Department of Livestock Development, Pathum Thani 12000, Thailand
| | - W Boonkum
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
| | - P Phakdeedindan
- Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; Genomics and Precision Dentistry Research Unit, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Tiplady KM, Lopdell TJ, Reynolds E, Sherlock RG, Keehan M, Johnson TJJ, Pryce JE, Davis SR, Spelman RJ, Harris BL, Garrick DJ, Littlejohn MD. Sequence-based genome-wide association study of individual milk mid-infrared wavenumbers in mixed-breed dairy cattle. Genet Sel Evol 2021; 53:62. [PMID: 34284721 PMCID: PMC8290608 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-021-00648-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fourier-transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy provides a high-throughput and inexpensive method for predicting milk composition and other novel traits from milk samples. While there have been many genome-wide association studies (GWAS) conducted on FT-MIR predicted traits, there have been few GWAS for individual FT-MIR wavenumbers. Using imputed whole-genome sequence for 38,085 mixed-breed New Zealand dairy cattle, we conducted GWAS on 895 individual FT-MIR wavenumber phenotypes, and assessed the value of these direct phenotypes for identifying candidate causal genes and variants, and improving our understanding of the physico-chemical properties of milk. RESULTS Separate GWAS conducted for each of 895 individual FT-MIR wavenumber phenotypes, identified 450 1-Mbp genomic regions with significant FT-MIR wavenumber QTL, compared to 246 1-Mbp genomic regions with QTL identified for FT-MIR predicted milk composition traits. Use of mammary RNA-seq data and gene annotation information identified 38 co-localized and co-segregating expression QTL (eQTL), and 31 protein-sequence mutations for FT-MIR wavenumber phenotypes, the latter including a null mutation in the ABO gene that has a potential role in changing milk oligosaccharide profiles. For the candidate causative genes implicated in these analyses, we examined the strength of association between relevant loci and each wavenumber across the mid-infrared spectrum. This revealed shared association patterns for groups of genomically-distant loci, highlighting clusters of loci linked through their biological roles in lactation and their presumed impacts on the chemical composition of milk. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates the utility of FT-MIR wavenumber phenotypes for improving our understanding of milk composition, presenting a larger number of QTL and putative causative genes and variants than found from FT-MIR predicted composition traits. Examining patterns of significance across the mid-infrared spectrum for loci of interest further highlighted commonalities of association, which likely reflects the physico-chemical properties of milk constituents.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn M. Tiplady
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Private Bag 3016, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
- School of Agriculture, Massey University, Ruakura, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
| | - Thomas J. Lopdell
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Private Bag 3016, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
| | - Edwardo Reynolds
- School of Agriculture, Massey University, Ruakura, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
| | - Richard G. Sherlock
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Private Bag 3016, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
| | - Michael Keehan
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Private Bag 3016, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
| | - Thomas JJ. Johnson
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Private Bag 3016, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
| | - Jennie E. Pryce
- School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC 3083 Australia
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, VIC 3083 Australia
| | - Stephen R. Davis
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Private Bag 3016, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
| | - Richard J. Spelman
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Private Bag 3016, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
| | - Bevin L. Harris
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Private Bag 3016, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
| | - Dorian J. Garrick
- School of Agriculture, Massey University, Ruakura, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
| | - Mathew D. Littlejohn
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Private Bag 3016, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
- School of Agriculture, Massey University, Ruakura, Hamilton, 3240 New Zealand
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Moscarelli A, Sardina MT, Cassandro M, Ciani E, Pilla F, Senczuk G, Portolano B, Mastrangelo S. Genome-wide assessment of diversity and differentiation between original and modern Brown cattle populations. Anim Genet 2020; 52:21-31. [PMID: 33174276 DOI: 10.1111/age.13019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Identifying genomic regions involved in the differences between breeds can provide information on genes that are under the influence of both artificial and natural selection. The aim of this study was to assess the genetic diversity and differentiation among four different Brown cattle populations (two original vs. two modern populations) and to characterize the distribution of runs of homozygosity (ROH) islands using the Illumina Bovine SNP50 BeadChip genotyping data. After quality control, 34 735 SNPs and 106 animals were retained for the analyses. Larger heterogeneity was highlighted for the original populations. Patterns of genetic differentiation, multidimensional scaling, and the neighboring joining tree distinguished the modern from the original populations. The FST -outlier identified several genes putatively involved in the genetic differentiation between the two groups, such as stature and growth, behavior, and adaptability to local environments. The ROH islands within both the original and the modern populations overlapped with QTL associated with relevant traits. In modern Brown (Brown Swiss and Italian Brown), ROH islands harbored candidate genes associated with milk production traits, in evident agreement with the artificial selection conducted to improve this trait in these populations. In original Brown (Original Braunvieh and Braunvieh), we identified candidate genes related with fat deposition, confirming that breeding strategies for the original Brown populations aimed to produce dual-purpose animals. Our study highlighted the presence of several genomic regions that vary between Brown populations, in line with their different breeding histories.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A Moscarelli
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, Palermo, 90128, Italy
| | - M T Sardina
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, Palermo, 90128, Italy
| | - M Cassandro
- Dipartimento di Agronomia Animali Alimenti Risorse naturali e Ambiente, University of Padova, Legnaro, 35020, Italy
| | - E Ciani
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Biotecnologie e Biofarmaceutica, University of Bari, Bari, 70124, Italy
| | - F Pilla
- Dipartimento Agricoltura, Ambiente e Alimenti, University of Molise, Campobasso, 86100, Italy
| | - G Senczuk
- Dipartimento Agricoltura, Ambiente e Alimenti, University of Molise, Campobasso, 86100, Italy
| | - B Portolano
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, Palermo, 90128, Italy
| | - S Mastrangelo
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, Palermo, 90128, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Tribout T, Croiseau P, Lefebvre R, Barbat A, Boussaha M, Fritz S, Boichard D, Hoze C, Sanchez MP. Confirmed effects of candidate variants for milk production, udder health, and udder morphology in dairy cattle. Genet Sel Evol 2020; 52:55. [PMID: 32998688 PMCID: PMC7529513 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-020-00575-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 09/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Over the last years, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) based on imputed whole-genome sequences (WGS) have been used to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) and highlight candidate genes for important traits. However, in general this approach does not allow to validate the effects of candidate mutations or determine if they are truly causative for the trait(s) in question. To address these questions, we applied a two-step, within-breed GWAS approach on 15 traits (5 linked with milk production, 2 with udder health, and 8 with udder morphology) in Montbéliarde (MON), Normande (NOR), and Holstein (HOL) cattle. We detected the most-promising candidate variants (CV) using imputed WGS of 2515 MON, 2203 NOR, and 6321 HOL bulls, and validated their effects in three younger populations of 23,926 MON, 9400 NOR, and 51,977 HOL cows. Results Bull sequence-based GWAS detected 84 QTL: 13, 10, and 30 for milk production traits; 3, 0, and 2 for somatic cell score (SCS); and 8, 2 and 16 for udder morphology traits, in MON, NOR, and HOL respectively. Five genomic regions with effects on milk production traits were shared among the three breeds whereas six (2 for production and 4 for udder morphology and health traits) had effects in two breeds. In 80 of these QTL, 855 CV were highlighted based on the significance of their effects and functional annotation. The subsequent GWAS on MON, NOR, and HOL cows validated 8, 9, and 23 QTL for production traits; 0, 0, and 1 for SCS; and 4, 1, and 8 for udder morphology traits, respectively. In 47 of the 54 confirmed QTL, the CV identified in bulls had more significant effects than single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the standard 50K chip. The best CV for each validated QTL was located in a gene that was functionally related to production (36 QTL) or udder (9 QTL) traits. Conclusions Using this two-step GWAS approach, we identified and validated 54 QTL that included CV mostly located within functional candidate genes and explained up to 6.3% (udder traits) and 37% (production traits) of the genetic variance of economically important dairy traits. These CV are now included in the chip used to evaluate French dairy cattle and can be integrated into routine genomic evaluation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thierry Tribout
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Pascal Croiseau
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Rachel Lefebvre
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Anne Barbat
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Mekki Boussaha
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Sébastien Fritz
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France.,Allice, 75012, Paris, France
| | - Didier Boichard
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Chris Hoze
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France.,Allice, 75012, Paris, France
| | - Marie-Pierre Sanchez
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France.
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
de Las Heras-Saldana S, Lopez BI, Moghaddar N, Park W, Park JE, Chung KY, Lim D, Lee SH, Shin D, van der Werf JHJ. Use of gene expression and whole-genome sequence information to improve the accuracy of genomic prediction for carcass traits in Hanwoo cattle. Genet Sel Evol 2020; 52:54. [PMID: 32993481 PMCID: PMC7525992 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-020-00574-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2020] [Accepted: 09/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In this study, we assessed the accuracy of genomic prediction for carcass weight (CWT), marbling score (MS), eye muscle area (EMA) and back fat thickness (BFT) in Hanwoo cattle when using genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP), weighted GBLUP (wGBLUP), and a BayesR model. For these models, we investigated the potential gain from using pre-selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on imputed sequence data and from gene expression information. We used data on 13,717 animals with carcass phenotypes and imputed sequence genotypes that were split in an independent GWAS discovery set of varying size and a remaining set for validation of prediction. Expression data were used from a Hanwoo gene expression experiment based on 45 animals. Results Using a larger number of animals in the reference set increased the accuracy of genomic prediction whereas a larger independent GWAS discovery dataset improved identification of predictive SNPs. Using pre-selected SNPs from GWAS in GBLUP improved accuracy of prediction by 0.02 for EMA and up to 0.05 for BFT, CWT, and MS, compared to a 50 k standard SNP array that gave accuracies of 0.50, 0.47, 0.58, and 0.47, respectively. Accuracy of prediction of BFT and CWT increased when BayesR was applied with the 50 k SNP array (0.02 and 0.03, respectively) and was further improved by combining the 50 k array with the top-SNPs (0.06 and 0.04, respectively). By contrast, using BayesR resulted in limited improvement for EMA and MS. wGBLUP did not improve accuracy but increased prediction bias. Based on the RNA-seq experiment, we identified informative expression quantitative trait loci, which, when used in GBLUP, improved the accuracy of prediction slightly, i.e. between 0.01 and 0.02. SNPs that were located in genes, the expression of which was associated with differences in trait phenotype, did not contribute to a higher prediction accuracy. Conclusions Our results show that, in Hanwoo beef cattle, when SNPs are pre-selected from GWAS on imputed sequence data, the accuracy of prediction improves only slightly whereas the contribution of SNPs that are selected based on gene expression is not significant. The benefit of statistical models to prioritize selected SNPs for estimating genomic breeding values is trait-specific and depends on the genetic architecture of each trait.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Bryan Irvine Lopez
- Animal Genomics and Bioinformatics Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju, 55365, Republic of Korea
| | - Nasir Moghaddar
- School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia
| | - Woncheoul Park
- Animal Genomics and Bioinformatics Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju, 55365, Republic of Korea
| | - Jong-Eun Park
- Animal Genomics and Bioinformatics Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju, 55365, Republic of Korea
| | - Ki Y Chung
- Department of Beef Science, Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries, Jeonju, Republic of Korea
| | - Dajeong Lim
- Animal Genomics and Bioinformatics Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju, 55365, Republic of Korea.
| | - Seung H Lee
- Division of Animal and Dairy Science, Chungnam National University, Deajeon, 34148, Republic of Korea
| | - Donghyun Shin
- The Animal Molecular Genetics and Breeding Centre, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, 54896, Republic of Korea
| | - Julius H J van der Werf
- School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Ghoreishifar SM, Eriksson S, Johansson AM, Khansefid M, Moghaddaszadeh-Ahrabi S, Parna N, Davoudi P, Javanmard A. Signatures of selection reveal candidate genes involved in economic traits and cold acclimation in five Swedish cattle breeds. Genet Sel Evol 2020; 52:52. [PMID: 32887549 PMCID: PMC7487911 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-020-00571-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Accepted: 08/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Thousands of years of natural and artificial selection have resulted in indigenous cattle breeds that are well-adapted to the environmental challenges of their local habitat and thereby are considered as valuable genetic resources. Understanding the genetic background of such adaptation processes can help us design effective breeding objectives to preserve local breeds and improve commercial cattle. To identify regions under putative selection, GGP HD 150 K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays were used to genotype 106 individuals representing five Swedish breeds i.e. native to different regions and covering areas with a subarctic cold climate in the north and mountainous west, to those with a continental climate in the more densely populated south regions. Results Five statistics were incorporated within a framework, known as de-correlated composite of multiple signals (DCMS) to detect signatures of selection. The obtained p-values were adjusted for multiple testing (FDR < 5%), and significant genomic regions were identified. Annotation of genes in these regions revealed various verified and novel candidate genes that are associated with a diverse range of traits, including e.g. high altitude adaptation and response to hypoxia (DCAF8, PPP1R12A, SLC16A3, UCP2, UCP3, TIGAR), cold acclimation (AQP3, AQP7, HSPB8), body size and stature (PLAG1, KCNA6, NDUFA9, AKAP3, C5H12orf4, RAD51AP1, FGF6, TIGAR, CCND2, CSMD3), resistance to disease and bacterial infection (CHI3L2, GBP6, PPFIBP1, REP15, CYP4F2, TIGD2, PYURF, SLC10A2, FCHSD2, ARHGEF17, RELT, PRDM2, KDM5B), reproduction (PPP1R12A, ZFP36L2, CSPP1), milk yield and components (NPC1L1, NUDCD3, ACSS1, FCHSD2), growth and feed efficiency (TMEM68, TGS1, LYN, XKR4, FOXA2, GBP2, GBP5, FGD6), and polled phenotype (URB1, EVA1C). Conclusions We identified genomic regions that may provide background knowledge to understand the mechanisms that are involved in economic traits and adaptation to cold climate in cattle. Incorporating p-values of different statistics in a single DCMS framework may help select and prioritize candidate genes for further analyses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Seyed Mohammad Ghoreishifar
- Department of Animal Science, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, 31587-11167, Iran
| | - Susanne Eriksson
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-75007, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Anna M Johansson
- Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-75007, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Majid Khansefid
- AgriBio Centre for AgriBioscience, Agriculture Victoria, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia
| | - Sima Moghaddaszadeh-Ahrabi
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Nahid Parna
- Department of Animal Science, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, 31587-11167, Iran
| | - Pourya Davoudi
- Department of Animal Science and Aquaculture, Dalhousie University, Truro, NS, B2N5E3, Canada
| | - Arash Javanmard
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
van den Berg I, Xiang R, Jenko J, Pausch H, Boussaha M, Schrooten C, Tribout T, Gjuvsland AB, Boichard D, Nordbø Ø, Sanchez MP, Goddard ME. Meta-analysis for milk fat and protein percentage using imputed sequence variant genotypes in 94,321 cattle from eight cattle breeds. Genet Sel Evol 2020; 52:37. [PMID: 32635893 PMCID: PMC7339598 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-020-00556-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2019] [Accepted: 06/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Sequence-based genome-wide association studies (GWAS) provide high statistical power to identify candidate causal mutations when a large number of individuals with both sequence variant genotypes and phenotypes is available. A meta-analysis combines summary statistics from multiple GWAS and increases the power to detect trait-associated variants without requiring access to data at the individual level of the GWAS mapping cohorts. Because linkage disequilibrium between adjacent markers is conserved only over short distances across breeds, a multi-breed meta-analysis can improve mapping precision. Results To maximise the power to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL), we combined the results of nine within-population GWAS that used imputed sequence variant genotypes of 94,321 cattle from eight breeds, to perform a large-scale meta-analysis for fat and protein percentage in cattle. The meta-analysis detected (p ≤ 10−8) 138 QTL for fat percentage and 176 QTL for protein percentage. This was more than the number of QTL detected in all within-population GWAS together (124 QTL for fat percentage and 104 QTL for protein percentage). Among all the lead variants, 100 QTL for fat percentage and 114 QTL for protein percentage had the same direction of effect in all within-population GWAS. This indicates either persistence of the linkage phase between the causal variant and the lead variant across breeds or that some of the lead variants might indeed be causal or tightly linked with causal variants. The percentage of intergenic variants was substantially lower for significant variants than for non-significant variants, and significant variants had mostly moderate to high minor allele frequencies. Significant variants were also clustered in genes that are known to be relevant for fat and protein percentages in milk. Conclusions Our study identified a large number of QTL associated with fat and protein percentage in dairy cattle. We demonstrated that large-scale multi-breed meta-analysis reveals more QTL at the nucleotide resolution than within-population GWAS. Significant variants were more often located in genic regions than non-significant variants and a large part of them was located in potentially regulatory regions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Irene van den Berg
- Agriculture Victoria Research, AgriBio, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia.
| | - Ruidong Xiang
- Agriculture Victoria Research, AgriBio, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia.,Faculty of Veterinary & Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Janez Jenko
- GENO SA, Storhamargata 44, 2317, Hamar, Norway
| | | | - Mekki Boussaha
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | | | - Thierry Tribout
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | | | - Didier Boichard
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | | | - Marie-Pierre Sanchez
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Mike E Goddard
- Agriculture Victoria Research, AgriBio, 5 Ring Road, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia.,Faculty of Veterinary & Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Abdel-Shafy H, Awad MA, El-Regalaty H, Ismael A, El-Assal SED, Abou-Bakr S. A single-step genomic evaluation for milk production in Egyptian buffalo. Livest Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.livsci.2020.103977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
|
23
|
Hayes BJ, Daetwyler HD. 1000 Bull Genomes Project to Map Simple and Complex Genetic Traits in Cattle: Applications and Outcomes. Annu Rev Anim Biosci 2019; 7:89-102. [PMID: 30508490 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-animal-020518-115024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 184] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The 1000 Bull Genomes Project is a collection of whole-genome sequences from 2,703 individuals capturing a significant proportion of the world's cattle diversity. So far, 84 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 2.5 million small insertion deletions have been identified in the collection, a very high level of genetic diversity. The project has greatly accelerated the identification of deleterious mutations for a range of genetic diseases, as well as for embryonic lethals. The rate of identification of causal mutations for complex traits has been slower, reflecting the typically small effect size of these mutations and the fact that many are likely in as-yet-unannotated regulatory regions. Both the deleterious mutations that have been identified and the mutations associated with complex trait variation have been included in low-cost SNP array designs, and these arrays are being genotyped in tens of thousands of dairy and beef cattle, enabling management of deleterious mutations in these populations as well as genomic selection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ben J Hayes
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia; .,Agriculture Victoria Research, AgriBio, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia
| | - Hans D Daetwyler
- Agriculture Victoria Research, AgriBio, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.,School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Genomic Prediction and Association Analysis with Models Including Dominance Effects for Important Traits in Chinese Simmental Beef Cattle. Animals (Basel) 2019; 9:ani9121055. [PMID: 31805716 PMCID: PMC6941016 DOI: 10.3390/ani9121055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Revised: 11/26/2019] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Dominance effects play important roles in determining genetic changes with regard to complex traits. We conducted genomic predictions and genome-wide association studies in order to investigate the effects of dominance on carcass weight, dressing percentage, meat percentage, average daily gain, and chuck roll in 1233 Simmental beef cattle. Using dominance models, we improved the predictive abilities and found several candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and genes associated with these traits. Our studies helped us to understand causal mutation mapping and genomic selection models with dominance effects in Chinese Simmental beef cattle. Abstract Non-additive effects play important roles in determining genetic changes with regard to complex traits; however, such effects are usually ignored in genetic evaluation and quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping analysis. In this study, a two-component genome-based restricted maximum likelihood (GREML) was applied to obtain the additive genetic variance and dominance variance for carcass weight (CW), dressing percentage (DP), meat percentage (MP), average daily gain (ADG), and chuck roll (CR) in 1233 Simmental beef cattle. We estimated predictive abilities using additive models (genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) and BayesA) and dominance models (GBLUP-D and BayesAD). Moreover, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) considering both additive and dominance effects were performed using a multi-locus mixed-model (MLMM) approach. We found that the estimated dominance variances accounted for 15.8%, 16.1%, 5.1%, 4.2%, and 9.7% of the total phenotypic variance for CW, DP, MP, ADG, and CR, respectively. Compared with BayesA and GBLUP, we observed 0.5–1.1% increases in predictive abilities of BayesAD and 0.5–0.9% increases in predictive abilities of GBLUP-D, respectively. Notably, we identified a dominance association signal for carcass weight within RIMS2, a candidate gene that has been associated with carcass weight in beef cattle. Our results suggest that dominance effects yield variable degrees of contribution to the total genetic variance of the studied traits in Simmental beef cattle. BayesAD and GBLUP-D are convenient models for the improvement of genomic prediction, and the detection of QTLs using a dominance model shows promise for use in GWAS in cattle.
Collapse
|
25
|
Patel OV, Casey T, Plaut K. Profiling solute-carrier transporters in key metabolic tissues during the postpartum evolution of mammary epithelial cells from nonsecretory to secretory. Physiol Genomics 2019; 51:539-552. [PMID: 31545931 DOI: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00058.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Modifications in the abundance of solute-carrier (SLC) transcripts in tandem with adjustments in genes-associated with energy homeostasis during the postpartum transition of the mammary epithelial cells (MEC) from nonsecretory to secretory is pivotal for supporting milk synthesis. The goal of this study was to identify differentially expressed SLC genes across key metabolic tissues between late pregnancy and onset of lactation. Total RNA was isolated from the mammary, liver, and adipose tissues collected from rat dams on day 20 of pregnancy (P20) and day 1 of lactation (L1) and gene expression was measured with Rat 230 2.0 Affymetrix GeneChips. LIMMA was utilized to identify the differential gene expression patterns between P20 and L1 tissues. Transcripts engaged in conveying anions, cations, carboxylates, sugars, amino acids, metals, nucleosides, vitamins, and fatty acids were significantly increased (P < 0.05) in MEC during the P20 to L1 shift. Downregulated (P < 0.05) genes in the mammary during the physiological transition included GLUT8 and SLC45a3. In the liver, SLC genes encoding for anion, carbonyl, and nucleotide sugar transporters were upregulated (P < 0.05) at L1. while genes facilitating transportation of anions and hexose were increased (P < 0.05), from P20 to L1 in the adipose tissue. GLUT1 and GLUT4 in the liver, along with GLUT4 and SGLT2 in the adipose tissue, were repressed (P < 0.05) at L1. Our results illustrate that MEC exhibit dynamic molecular plasticity during the nonsecretory to secretory transition and increase biosynthetic capacity through a coordinated tissue specific SLC transcriptome modification to facilitate substrate transfer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Osman V Patel
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan
| | - Theresa Casey
- Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
| | - Karen Plaut
- Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Alshawi A, Essa A, Al-Bayatti S, Hanotte O. Genome Analysis Reveals Genetic Admixture and Signature of Selection for Productivity and Environmental Traits in Iraqi Cattle. Front Genet 2019; 10:609. [PMID: 31379916 PMCID: PMC6646475 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Accepted: 06/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The Near East cattle are adapted to different agro-ecological zones including desert areas, mountains habitats, and humid regions along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers system. The region was one of the earliest and most significant areas of cattle husbandry. Currently, four main breeds of Iraqi cattle are recognized. Among these, the Jenoubi is found in the southern more humid part of Iraq, while the Rustaqi is found in the middle and drier region of the country. Despite their importance, Iraqi cattle have up to now been poorly characterized at the genome level. Here, we report at a genome-wide level the diversity and signature of positive selection in these two breeds. Thirty-five unrelated Jenoubi cattle, sampled in the Maysan and Basra regions, and 60 Rustaqi cattle, from around Baghdad and Babylon, were genotyped using the Illumina Bovine HD BeadChip (700K). Genetic population structure and diversity level were studied using principal component analysis (PCA), expected heterozygosity (He), observed heterozygosity (Ho), and admixture. Signatures of selection were studied using extended haplotype homozygosity (EHH) (iHS and Rsb) and inter-population Wright's Fst. The results of PCA and admixture analysis, including European taurine, Asian indicine, African indicine, and taurine indicate that the two breeds are crossbreed zebu × taurine, with more zebu background in Jenoubi cattle compared with Rustaqi. The Rustaqi has the greatest mean heterozygosity (He = 0.37) among all breeds. iHS and Rsb signatures of selection analyses identify 68 candidate genes under positive selection in the two Iraqi breeds, while Fst analysis identifies 220 candidate genes including genes related to the innate and acquired immunity responses, different environmental selection pressures (e.g., tick resistance and heat stress), and genes of commercial interest (e.g., marbling score).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Akil Alshawi
- Division of Cells, Organisms and Molecular Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Park Campus, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.,Department of Internal and Preventive Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Baghdad, Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Baghdad, Iraq
| | - Abdulameer Essa
- Animal Genetics Resources Department, Directorate of Animal Resources, the Ministry of Iraqi Agriculture, Baghdad, Iraq
| | - Sahar Al-Bayatti
- Animal Genetics Resources Department, Directorate of Animal Resources, the Ministry of Iraqi Agriculture, Baghdad, Iraq
| | - Olivier Hanotte
- Division of Cells, Organisms and Molecular Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Park Campus, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.,LiveGene, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Benedet A, Ho PN, Xiang R, Bolormaa S, De Marchi M, Goddard ME, Pryce JE. The use of mid-infrared spectra to map genes affecting milk composition. J Dairy Sci 2019; 102:7189-7203. [PMID: 31178181 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2018-15890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy analysis of milk samples to increase the power and precision of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for milk composition and to better distinguish linked quantitative trait loci (QTL). To achieve this goal, we analyzed phenotypic data of milk composition traits, related MIR spectra, and genotypic data comprising 626,777 SNP on 5,202 Holstein, Jersey, and crossbred cows. We performed a conventional GWAS on protein, lactose, fat, and fatty acid concentrations in milk, a GWAS on individual MIR wavenumbers, and a partial least squares regression (PLS), which is equivalent to a multi-trait GWAS, exploiting MIR data simultaneously to predict SNP genotypes. The PLS detected most of the QTL identified using single-trait GWAS, usually with a higher significance value, as well as previously undetected QTL for milk composition. Each QTL tends to have a different pattern of effects across the MIR spectrum and this explains the increased power. Because SNP tracking different QTL tend to have different patterns of effect, it was possible to distinguish closely linked QTL. Overall, the results of this study suggest that using MIR data through either GWAS or PLS analysis applied to genomic data can provide a powerful tool to distinguish milk composition QTL.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A Benedet
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Legnaro 35020, Padova, Italy
| | - P N Ho
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia
| | - R Xiang
- Faculty of Veterinary & Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - S Bolormaa
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia
| | - M De Marchi
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Legnaro 35020, Padova, Italy
| | - M E Goddard
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia; Faculty of Veterinary & Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - J E Pryce
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia; School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Sun HZ, Plastow G, Guan LL. Invited review: Advances and challenges in application of feedomics to improve dairy cow production and health. J Dairy Sci 2019; 102:5853-5870. [PMID: 31030919 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2018-16126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2018] [Accepted: 03/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Dairy cattle science has evolved greatly over the past century, contributing significantly to the improvement in milk production achieved today. However, a new approach is needed to meet the increasing demand for milk production and address the increased concerns about animal health and welfare. It is now easy to collect and access large and complex data sets consisting of molecular, physiological, and metabolic data as well as animal-level data (such as behavior). This provides new opportunities to better understand the mechanisms regulating cow performance. The recently proposed concept of feedomics could help achieve this goal by increasing our understanding of interactions between the different components or levels and their impact on animal production. Feedomics is an emerging field that integrates a range of omics technologies (e.g., genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, metagenomics, and metatranscriptomics) to provide these insights. In this way, we can identify the best strategies to improve overall animal productivity, product quality, welfare, and health. This approach can help research communities elucidate the complex interactions among nutrition, environment, management, animal genetics, metabolism, physiology, and the symbiotic microbiota. In this review, we summarize the outcomes of the most recent research on omics in dairy cows and highlight how an integrated feedomics approach could be applied in the future to improve dairy cow production and health. Specifically, we focus on 2 topics: (1) improving milk yield and milk quality, and (2) understanding metabolic physiology in transition dairy cows, which are 2 important challenges faced by the dairy industry worldwide.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- H Z Sun
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6G 2P5
| | - G Plastow
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6G 2P5
| | - L L Guan
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6G 2P5.
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
van den Berg I, Hayes BJ, Chamberlain AJ, Goddard ME. Overlap between eQTL and QTL associated with production traits and fertility in dairy cattle. BMC Genomics 2019; 20:291. [PMID: 30987590 PMCID: PMC6466667 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-019-5656-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2018] [Accepted: 03/29/2019] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Identifying causative mutations or genes through which quantitative trait loci (QTL) act has proven very difficult. Using information such as gene expression may help to identify genes and mutations underlying QTL. Our objective was to identify regions associated both with production traits or fertility and with gene expression, in dairy cattle. We used three different approaches to discover QTL that are also expression QTL (eQTL): 1) estimate the correlation between local genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV) and gene expression, 2) investigate whether the 300 intervals explaining most genetic variance for a trait contain more eQTL than 300 randomly selected intervals, and 3) a colocalisation analysis. Phenotypes and genotypes up to sequence level of 35,775 dairy bulls and cows were used for QTL mapping, and gene expression and genotypes of 131 cows were used to identify eQTL. Results With all three approaches, we identified some overlap between eQTL and QTL, though the majority of QTL in our dataset did not seem to be eQTL. The most significant associations between QTL and eQTL were found for intervals on chromosome 18, where local GEBV for all traits showed a strong association with the expression of the FUK and DDX19B. Intervals whose local GEBV for a trait correlated highly significantly with the expression of a nearby gene explained only a very small part of the genetic variance for that trait. It is likely that part of these correlations were due to linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the interval. While the 300 intervals explaining most genetic variance explained most of the GEBV variance, they contained only slightly more eQTL than 300 randomly selected intervals that explained a minimal portion of the GEBV variance. Furthermore, some variants showed a high colocalisation probability, but this was only the case for few variants. Conclusions Several reasons may have contributed to the low level of overlap between QTL and eQTL detected in our study, including a lack of power in the eQTL study and long-range LD making it difficult to separate QTL and eQTL. Furthermore, it may be that eQTL explain only a small fraction of QTL. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-019-5656-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- I van den Berg
- Faculty of Veterinary & Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. .,Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
| | - B J Hayes
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.,Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Centre for Animal Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4067, Australia
| | - A J Chamberlain
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - M E Goddard
- Faculty of Veterinary & Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.,Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Iung LHS, Petrini J, Ramírez-Díaz J, Salvian M, Rovadoscki GA, Pilonetto F, Dauria BD, Machado PF, Coutinho LL, Wiggans GR, Mourão GB. Genome-wide association study for milk production traits in a Brazilian Holstein population. J Dairy Sci 2019; 102:5305-5314. [PMID: 30904307 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2018-14811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2018] [Accepted: 10/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Advances in the molecular area of selection have expanded knowledge of the genetic architecture of complex traits through genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Several GWAS have been performed so far, but confirming these results is not always possible due to several factors, including environmental conditions. Thus, our objective was to identify genomic regions associated with traditional milk production traits, including milk yield, somatic cell score, fat, protein and lactose percentages, and fatty acid composition in a Holstein cattle population producing under tropical conditions. For this, 75,228 phenotypic records from 5,981 cows and genotypic data of 56,256 SNP from 1,067 cows were used in a weighted single-step GWAS. A total of 46 windows of 10 SNP explaining more than 1% of the genetic variance across 10 Bos taurus autosomes (BTA) harbored well-known and novel genes. The MGST1 (BTA5), ABCG2 (BTA6), DGAT1 (BTA14), and PAEP (BTA11) genes were confirmed within some of the regions identified in our study. Potential novel genes involved in tissue damage and repair of the mammary gland (COL18A1), immune response (LTTC19), glucose homeostasis (SLC37A1), synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids (LTBP1), and sugar transport (SLC37A1 and MFSD4A) were found for milk yield, somatic cell score, fat percentage, and fatty acid composition. Our findings may assist genomic selection by using these regions to design a customized SNP array to improve milk production traits on farms with similar environmental conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- L H S Iung
- Department of Animal Science, University of São Paulo (USP)/Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo 13418900, Brazil
| | - J Petrini
- Department of Animal Science, University of São Paulo (USP)/Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo 13418900, Brazil
| | - J Ramírez-Díaz
- Department of Animal Science, University of São Paulo (USP)/Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo 13418900, Brazil
| | - M Salvian
- Department of Animal Science, University of São Paulo (USP)/Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo 13418900, Brazil
| | - G A Rovadoscki
- Department of Animal Science, University of São Paulo (USP)/Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo 13418900, Brazil
| | - F Pilonetto
- Department of Animal Science, University of São Paulo (USP)/Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo 13418900, Brazil
| | - B D Dauria
- Department of Animal Science, University of São Paulo (USP)/Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo 13418900, Brazil
| | - P F Machado
- Department of Animal Science, University of São Paulo (USP)/Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo 13418900, Brazil
| | - L L Coutinho
- Department of Animal Science, University of São Paulo (USP)/Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo 13418900, Brazil
| | - G R Wiggans
- Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350
| | - G B Mourão
- Department of Animal Science, University of São Paulo (USP)/Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), Piracicaba, São Paulo 13418900, Brazil.
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Genetic Analyses Confirm SNPs in HSPA8 and ERBB2 are Associated with Milk Protein Concentration in Chinese Holstein Cattle. Genes (Basel) 2019; 10:genes10020104. [PMID: 30704154 PMCID: PMC6409942 DOI: 10.3390/genes10020104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2018] [Revised: 01/25/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Heat shock 70 kDa protein 8 (HSPA8) and erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (ERBB2) were the promising candidates for milk protein concentration in dairy cattle revealed through previous RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) study. The objective of this post-RNA-Seq study was to confirm genetic effects of HSPA8 and ERBB2 on milk protein concentration in a large Chinese Holstein population and to evaluate the genetic effects of both genes on other milk production traits. There were 2 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified for HSPA8 and 11 SNPs for ERBB2 by sequencing 17 unrelated Chinese Holstein sires. The SNP-rs136632043 in HSPA8 had significant associations with all five milk production traits (p = 0.0086 to p < 0.0001), whereas SNP-rs132976221 was remarkably associated with three yield traits (p < 0.0001). Nine (ss1996900615, rs109017161, rs109122971, ss1996900614, rs110133654, rs109941438, rs110552983, rs133031530, and rs109763505) of 11 SNPs in ERBB2 were significantly associated with milk protein percentage (p = 0.0177 to p < 0.0001). A 12 Kb haplotype block was formed in ERBB2 and haplotype associations revealed similar effects on milk protein traits. Our findings confirmed the significant genetic effects of HSPA8 and ERBB2 on milk protein concentration and other milk production traits and SNP phenotypic variances above 1% may serve as genetic markers in dairy cattle breeding programs.
Collapse
|
32
|
Lopdell TJ, Tiplady K, Couldrey C, Johnson TJJ, Keehan M, Davis SR, Harris BL, Spelman RJ, Snell RG, Littlejohn MD. Multiple QTL underlie milk phenotypes at the CSF2RB locus. Genet Sel Evol 2019; 51:3. [PMID: 30678637 PMCID: PMC6346582 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-019-0446-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2018] [Accepted: 01/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Over many years, artificial selection has substantially improved milk production by cows. However, the genes that underlie milk production quantitative trait loci (QTL) remain relatively poorly characterised. Here, we investigate a previously reported QTL located at the CSF2RB locus on chromosome 5, for several milk production phenotypes, to better understand its underlying genetic and molecular causes. Results Using a population of 29,350 taurine dairy cows, we conducted association analyses for milk yield and composition traits, and identified highly significant QTL for milk yield, milk fat concentration, and milk protein concentration. Strikingly, protein concentration and milk yield appear to show co-located yet genetically distinct QTL. To attempt to understand the molecular mechanisms that might be mediating these effects, gene expression data were used to investigate eQTL for 11 genes in the broader interval. This analysis highlighted genetic impacts on CSF2RB and NCF4 expression that share similar association signatures to those observed for lactation QTL, strongly implicating one or both of these genes as responsible for these effects. Using the same gene expression dataset representing 357 lactating cows, we also identified 38 novel RNA editing sites in the 3′ UTR of CSF2RB transcripts. The extent to which two of these sites were edited also appears to be genetically co-regulated with lactation QTL, highlighting a further layer of regulatory complexity that involves the CSF2RB gene. Conclusions This locus presents a diversity of molecular and lactation QTL, likely representing multiple overlapping effects that, at a minimum, highlight the CSF2RB gene as having a causal role in these processes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12711-019-0446-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J Lopdell
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Ruakura Road, Hamilton, New Zealand. .,School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Symonds Street, Auckland, New Zealand.
| | - Kathryn Tiplady
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Ruakura Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Christine Couldrey
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Ruakura Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Thomas J J Johnson
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Ruakura Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Michael Keehan
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Ruakura Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Stephen R Davis
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Ruakura Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Bevin L Harris
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Ruakura Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Richard J Spelman
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Ruakura Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Russell G Snell
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Symonds Street, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Mathew D Littlejohn
- Research and Development, Livestock Improvement Corporation, Ruakura Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Marete AG, Guldbrandtsen B, Lund MS, Fritz S, Sahana G, Boichard D. A Meta-Analysis Including Pre-selected Sequence Variants Associated With Seven Traits in Three French Dairy Cattle Populations. Front Genet 2018; 9:522. [PMID: 30459810 PMCID: PMC6232291 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2018.00522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2018] [Accepted: 10/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
A within-breed genome-wide association study (GWAS) is useful when identifying the QTL that segregates in a breed. However, an across-breed meta-analysis can be used to increase the power of identification and precise localization of QTL that segregate in multiple breeds. Precise localization will allow including QTL information from other breeds in genomic prediction due to the persistence of the linkage phase between the causal variant and the marker. This study aimed to identify and confirm QTL detected in within-breed GWAS through a meta-analysis in three French dairy cattle breeds. A set of sequence variants selected based on their functional annotations were imputed into 50 k genotypes for 46,732 Holstein, 20,096 Montbeliarde, and 11,944 Normande cows to identify QTL for milk production, the success rate at insemination of cows (fertility) and stature. We conducted within-breed GWAS followed by across-breed meta-analysis using a weighted Z-scores model on the GWAS summary data (i.e., P-values, effect direction, and sample size). After Bonferroni correction, the GWAS result identified 21,956 significantly associated SNP (P FWER < 0.05), while meta-analysis result identified 9,604 significant SNP (P FWER < 0.05) associated with the phenotypes. The meta-analysis identified 36 QTL for milk yield, 48 QTL for fat yield and percentage, 29 QTL for protein yield and percentage, 13 QTL for fertility, and 16 QTL for stature. Some of these QTL were not significant in the within-breed GWAS. Some previously identified causal variants were confirmed, e.g., BTA14:1802265 (fat percentage, P = 1.5 × 10-760; protein percentage, P = 7.61 × 10-348) both mapping the DGAT1-K232A mutation and BTA14:25006125 (P = 8.58 × 10-140) mapping PLAG1 gene was confirmed for stature in Montbeliarde. New QTL lead SNP shared between breeds included the intronic variant rs109205829 (NFIB gene), and the intergenic variant rs41592357 (1.38 Mb upstream of the CNTN6 gene and 0.65 Mb downstream of the CNTN4 gene). Rs110425867 (ZFAT gene) was the top variant associated with fertility, and new QTL lead SNP included rs109483390 (0.1 Mb upstream of the TNFAIP3 gene and 0.07 Mb downstream of PERP gene), and rs42412333 (0.45 Mb downstream of the RPL10L gene). An across-breed meta-analysis had greater power to detect QTL as opposed to a within breed GWAS. The QTL detected here can be incorporated in routine genomic predictions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew G Marete
- UMR GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350 Jouy en Josas, France.,Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Bernt Guldbrandtsen
- Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Mogens S Lund
- Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Sébastien Fritz
- UMR GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350 Jouy en Josas, France.,ALLICE, Paris, France
| | - Goutam Sahana
- Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Didier Boichard
- UMR GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350 Jouy en Josas, France
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Identification of genomic regions harboring diversity between Holstein and two local endangered breeds, Modenese and Maremmana. Livest Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.livsci.2018.07.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
|
35
|
Yurchenko AA, Daetwyler HD, Yudin N, Schnabel RD, Vander Jagt CJ, Soloshenko V, Lhasaranov B, Popov R, Taylor JF, Larkin DM. Scans for signatures of selection in Russian cattle breed genomes reveal new candidate genes for environmental adaptation and acclimation. Sci Rep 2018; 8:12984. [PMID: 30154520 PMCID: PMC6113280 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31304-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2018] [Accepted: 08/16/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Domestication and selective breeding has resulted in over 1000 extant cattle breeds. Many of these breeds do not excel in important traits but are adapted to local environments. These adaptations are a valuable source of genetic material for efforts to improve commercial breeds. As a step toward this goal we identified candidate regions to be under selection in genomes of nine Russian native cattle breeds adapted to survive in harsh climates. After comparing our data to other breeds of European and Asian origins we found known and novel candidate genes that could potentially be related to domestication, economically important traits and environmental adaptations in cattle. The Russian cattle breed genomes contained regions under putative selection with genes that may be related to adaptations to harsh environments (e.g., AQP5, RAD50, and RETREG1). We found genomic signatures of selective sweeps near key genes related to economically important traits, such as the milk production (e.g., DGAT1, ABCG2), growth (e.g., XKR4), and reproduction (e.g., CSF2). Our data point to candidate genes which should be included in future studies attempting to identify genes to improve the extant breeds and facilitate generation of commercial breeds that fit better into the environments of Russia and other countries with similar climates.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrey A Yurchenko
- The Federal Research Center Institute of Cytology and Genetics, The Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICG SB RAS), 630090, Novosibirsk, Russia
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Hans D Daetwyler
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, 3083, Victoria, Australia
- School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3083, Victoria, Australia
| | - Nikolay Yudin
- The Federal Research Center Institute of Cytology and Genetics, The Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICG SB RAS), 630090, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Robert D Schnabel
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211-5300, USA
| | - Christy J Vander Jagt
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, 3083, Victoria, Australia
| | | | | | - Ruslan Popov
- Yakutian Research Institute of Agriculture, 677001, Yakutsk, Russia
| | - Jeremy F Taylor
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211-5300, USA
| | - Denis M Larkin
- The Federal Research Center Institute of Cytology and Genetics, The Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICG SB RAS), 630090, Novosibirsk, Russia.
- Royal Veterinary College, University of London, NW01 0TU, London, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Marete A, Lund MS, Boichard D, Ramayo-Caldas Y. A system-based analysis of the genetic determinism of udder conformation and health phenotypes across three French dairy cattle breeds. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0199931. [PMID: 29965995 PMCID: PMC6028091 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2018] [Accepted: 06/15/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Using GWAS to identify candidate genes associated with cattle morphology traits at a functional level is challenging. The main difficulty of identifying candidate genes and gene interactions associated with such complex traits is the long-range linkage disequilibrium (LD) phenomenon reported widely in dairy cattle. Systems biology approaches, such as combining the Association Weight Matrix (AWM) with a Partial Correlation in an Information Theory (PCIT) algorithm, can assist in overcoming this LD. Used in a multi-breed and multi-phenotype context, the AWM-PCIT could aid in identifying udder traits candidate genes and gene networks with regulatory and functional significance. This study aims to use the AWM-PCIT algorithm as a post-GWAS analysis tool with the goal of identifying candidate genes underlying udder morphology. We used data from 78,440 dairy cows from three breeds and with own phenotypes for five udder morphology traits, five production traits, somatic cell score and clinical mastitis. Cows were genotyped with medium (50k) or low-density (7 to 10k) chips and imputed to 50k. We performed a within breed and trait GWAS. The GWAS showed 9,830 significant SNP across the genome (p < 0.05). Five thousand and ten SNP did not map a gene, and 4,820 SNP were within 10-kb of a gene. After accounting for 1SNP:1gene, 3,651 SNP were within 10-kb of a gene (set1), and 2,673 significant SNP were further than 10-kb of a gene (set2). The two SNP sets formed 6,324 SNP matrix, which was fitted in an AWM-PCIT considering udder depth/ development as the key trait resulting in 1,013 genes associated with udder morphology, mastitis and production phenotypes. The AWM-PCIT detected ten potential candidate genes for udder related traits: ESR1, FGF2, FGFR2, GLI2, IQGAP3, PGR, PRLR, RREB1, BTRC, and TGFBR2.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Marete
- Génétique Animale et Biologie Intégrative, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Jouy-en-Josas, France.,Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Aarhus University, Tjele, Denmark
| | - Mogens Sandø Lund
- Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Aarhus University, Tjele, Denmark
| | - Didier Boichard
- Génétique Animale et Biologie Intégrative, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Yuliaxis Ramayo-Caldas
- Génétique Animale et Biologie Intégrative, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Kroezen V, Schenkel F, Miglior F, Baes C, Squires E. Candidate gene association analyses for ketosis resistance in Holsteins. J Dairy Sci 2018; 101:5240-5249. [DOI: 10.3168/jds.2017-13374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2017] [Accepted: 02/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
|
38
|
Sanchez MP, Govignon-Gion A, Croiseau P, Fritz S, Hozé C, Miranda G, Martin P, Barbat-Leterrier A, Letaïef R, Rocha D, Brochard M, Boussaha M, Boichard D. Within-breed and multi-breed GWAS on imputed whole-genome sequence variants reveal candidate mutations affecting milk protein composition in dairy cattle. Genet Sel Evol 2017; 49:68. [PMID: 28923017 PMCID: PMC5604355 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-017-0344-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2017] [Accepted: 08/30/2017] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were performed at the sequence level to identify candidate mutations that affect the expression of six major milk proteins in Montbéliarde (MON), Normande (NOR), and Holstein (HOL) dairy cattle. Whey protein (α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin) and casein (αs1, αs2, β, and κ) contents were estimated by mid-infrared (MIR) spectrometry, with medium to high accuracy (0.59 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.92), for 848,068 test-day milk samples from 156,660 cows in the first three lactations. Milk composition was evaluated as average test-day measurements adjusted for environmental effects. Next, we genotyped a subset of 8080 cows (2967 MON, 2737 NOR, and 2306 HOL) with the BovineSNP50 Beadchip. For each breed, genotypes were first imputed to high-density (HD) using HD single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotypes of 522 MON, 546 NOR, and 776 HOL bulls. The resulting HD SNP genotypes were subsequently imputed to the sequence level using 27 million high-quality sequence variants selected from Run4 of the 1000 Bull Genomes consortium (1147 bulls). Within-breed, multi-breed, and conditional GWAS were performed. Results Thirty-four distinct genomic regions were identified. Three regions on chromosomes 6, 11, and 20 had very significant effects on milk composition and were shared across the three breeds. Other significant effects, which partially overlapped across breeds, were found on almost all the autosomes. Multi-breed analyses provided a larger number of significant genomic regions with smaller confidence intervals than within-breed analyses. Combinations of within-breed, multi-breed, and conditional analyses led to the identification of putative causative variants in several candidate genes that presented significant protein–protein interactions enrichment, including those with previously described effects on milk composition (SLC37A1, MGST1, ABCG2, CSN1S1, CSN2, CSN1S2, CSN3, PAEP, DGAT1, AGPAT6) and those with effects reported for the first time here (ALPL, ANKH, PICALM). Conclusions GWAS applied to fine-scale phenotypes, multiple breeds, and whole-genome sequences seems to be effective to identify candidate gene variants. However, although we identified functional links between some candidate genes and milk phenotypes, the causality between candidate variants and milk protein composition remains to be demonstrated. Nevertheless, the identification of potential causative mutations that underlie milk protein composition may have immediate applications for improvements in cheese-making. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12711-017-0344-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Pierre Sanchez
- GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France.
| | - Armelle Govignon-Gion
- GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France.,Institut de l'Elevage, 75012, Paris, France
| | - Pascal Croiseau
- GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Sébastien Fritz
- GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France.,Allice, 75012, Paris, France
| | - Chris Hozé
- GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France.,Allice, 75012, Paris, France
| | - Guy Miranda
- GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Patrice Martin
- GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | | | - Rabia Letaïef
- GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Dominique Rocha
- GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | | | - Mekki Boussaha
- GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Didier Boichard
- GABI, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Xiang R, MacLeod IM, Bolormaa S, Goddard ME. Genome-wide comparative analyses of correlated and uncorrelated phenotypes identify major pleiotropic variants in dairy cattle. Sci Rep 2017; 7:9248. [PMID: 28835686 PMCID: PMC5569018 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-09788-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2017] [Accepted: 07/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
While single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with multiple phenotype have been reported, the knowledge of pleiotropy of uncorrelated phenotype is minimal. Principal components (PCs) and uncorrelated Cholesky transformed traits (CT) were constructed using 25 raw traits (RTs) of 2841 dairy bulls. Multi-trait meta-analyses of single-trait genome-wide association studies for RT, PC and CT in bulls were validated in 6821 cows. Most PCs and CTs had substantial estimates of heritability, suggesting that genes affect phenotype via diverse pathways. Phenotypic orthogonalizations did not eliminate pleiotropy: the meta-analysis achieved an agreement of significant pleiotropic SNPs (p < 1 × 10-5, n = 368) between RTs (416), PCs (466) and CTs (425). From this overlap we identified 21 lead SNPs with 100% validation rate containing two clusters: one consisted of DGAT1 (chr14:1.8 M+), MGST1 (chr5:93 M+), PAEP (chr11:103 M+) and GPAT4 (chr27:36 M+) affecting protein, milk and fat yield and the other included CSN2 (chr6:87 M+), MUC1 (chr3:15.6 M), GHR (chr20:31.2 M+) and SDC2 (chr14:70 M+) affecting protein and milk yield. Combining beef cattle data identified correlated SNPs representing CAPN1 (chr29:44 M+) and CAST (chr 7:96 M+) loci affecting beef tenderness, showing pleiotropic effects in dairy cattle. Our findings show that SNPs with a large effect on one trait are likely to have small effects on other uncorrelated traits.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ruidong Xiang
- Faculty of Veterinary & Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
- AgriBio, Department Economic Development, Jobs, Transport & Resources, Bundoora, Victoria, 3083, Australia.
| | - Iona M MacLeod
- AgriBio, Department Economic Development, Jobs, Transport & Resources, Bundoora, Victoria, 3083, Australia
| | - Sunduimijid Bolormaa
- AgriBio, Department Economic Development, Jobs, Transport & Resources, Bundoora, Victoria, 3083, Australia
- Cooperative Research Centre for Sheep Industry Innovation, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia
| | - Michael E Goddard
- Faculty of Veterinary & Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia
- AgriBio, Department Economic Development, Jobs, Transport & Resources, Bundoora, Victoria, 3083, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Wang T, Chen YPP, MacLeod IM, Pryce JE, Goddard ME, Hayes BJ. Application of a Bayesian non-linear model hybrid scheme to sequence data for genomic prediction and QTL mapping. BMC Genomics 2017; 18:618. [PMID: 28810831 PMCID: PMC5558724 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-017-4030-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2017] [Accepted: 08/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Using whole genome sequence data might improve genomic prediction accuracy, when compared with high-density SNP arrays, and could lead to identification of casual mutations affecting complex traits. For some traits, the most accurate genomic predictions are achieved with non-linear Bayesian methods. However, as the number of variants and the size of the reference population increase, the computational time required to implement these Bayesian methods (typically with Monte Carlo Markov Chain sampling) becomes unfeasibly long. Results Here, we applied a new method, HyB_BR (for Hybrid BayesR), which implements a mixture model of normal distributions and hybridizes an Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm followed by Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling, to genomic prediction in a large dairy cattle population with imputed whole genome sequence data. The imputed whole genome sequence data included 994,019 variant genotypes of 16,214 Holstein and Jersey bulls and cows. Traits included fat yield, milk volume, protein kg, fat% and protein% in milk, as well as fertility and heat tolerance. HyB_BR achieved genomic prediction accuracies as high as the full MCMC implementation of BayesR, both for predicting a validation set of Holstein and Jersey bulls (multi-breed prediction) and a validation set of Australian Red bulls (across-breed prediction). HyB_BR had a ten fold reduction in compute time, compared with the MCMC implementation of BayesR (48 hours versus 594 hours). We also demonstrate that in many cases HyB_BR identified sequence variants with a high posterior probability of affecting the milk production or fertility traits that were similar to those identified in BayesR. For heat tolerance, both HyB_BR and BayesR found variants in or close to promising candidate genes associated with this trait and not detected by previous studies. Conclusions The results demonstrate that HyB_BR is a feasible method for simultaneous genomic prediction and QTL mapping with whole genome sequence in large reference populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Wang
- School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia. .,Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia. .,Dairy Futures Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia.
| | - Yi-Ping Phoebe Chen
- School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia
| | - Iona M MacLeod
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia.,Dairy Futures Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia
| | - Jennie E Pryce
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia.,Dairy Futures Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia.,School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia
| | - Michael E Goddard
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia.,Dairy Futures Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia.,Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Ben J Hayes
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia.,Dairy Futures Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia.,Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Centre for Animal Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Wang M, Hancock TP, MacLeod IM, Pryce JE, Cocks BG, Hayes BJ. Putative enhancer sites in the bovine genome are enriched with variants affecting complex traits. Genet Sel Evol 2017; 49:56. [PMID: 28683716 PMCID: PMC5499214 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-017-0331-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2017] [Accepted: 06/26/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Enhancers are non-coding DNA sequences, which when they are bound by specific proteins increase the level of gene transcription. Enhancers activate unique gene expression patterns within cells of different types or under different conditions. Enhancers are key contributors to gene regulation, and causative variants that affect quantitative traits in humans and mice have been located in enhancer regions. However, in the bovine genome, enhancers as well as other regulatory elements are not yet well defined. In this paper, we sought to improve the annotation of bovine enhancer regions by using publicly available mammalian enhancer information. To test if the identified putative bovine enhancer regions are enriched with functional variants that affect milk production traits, we performed genome-wide association studies using imputed whole-genome sequence data followed by meta-analysis and enrichment analysis. Results We produced a library of candidate bovine enhancer regions by using publicly available bovine ChIP-Seq enhancer data in combination with enhancer data that were identified based on sequence homology with human and mouse enhancer databases. We found that imputed whole-genome sequence variants associated with milk production traits in 16,581 dairy cattle were enriched with enhancer regions that were marked by bovine-liver H3K4me3 and H3K27ac histone modifications from both permutation tests and gene set enrichment analysis. Enhancer regions that were identified based on sequence homology with human and mouse enhancer regions were not as strongly enriched with trait-associated sequence variants as the bovine ChIP-Seq candidate enhancer regions. The bovine ChIP-Seq enriched enhancer regions were located near genes and quantitative trait loci that are associated with pregnancy, growth, disease resistance, meat quality and quantity, and milk quality and quantity traits in dairy and beef cattle. Conclusions Our results suggest that sequence variants within enhancer regions that are located in bovine non-coding genomic regions contribute to the variation in complex traits. The level of enrichment was higher in bovine-specific enhancer regions that were identified by detecting histone modifications H3K4me3 and H3K27ac in bovine liver tissues than in enhancer regions identified by sequence homology with human and mouse data. These results highlight the need to use bovine-specific experimental data for the identification of enhancer regions. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12711-017-0331-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Min Wang
- School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia.
| | - Timothy P Hancock
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia
| | - Iona M MacLeod
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia
| | - Jennie E Pryce
- School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia.,Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia
| | - Benjamin G Cocks
- School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia.,Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia
| | - Benjamin J Hayes
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Macciotta NPP, Biffani S, Bernabucci U, Lacetera N, Vitali A, Ajmone-Marsan P, Nardone A. Derivation and genome-wide association study of a principal component-based measure of heat tolerance in dairy cattle. J Dairy Sci 2017; 100:4683-4697. [PMID: 28365122 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2016-12249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2016] [Accepted: 02/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Heat stress represents a key factor that negatively affects the productive and reproductive performance of farm animals. In the present work, a new measure of tolerance to heat stress for dairy cattle was developed using principal component analysis. Data were from 590,174 test-day records for milk yield, fat and protein percentages, and somatic cell score of 39,261 Italian Holstein cows. Test-day records adjusted for main systematic factors were grouped into 11 temperature-humidity index (THI) classes. Daughter trait deviations (DTD) were calculated for 1,540 bulls as means of the adjusted test-day records for each THI class. Principal component analysis was performed on the DTD for each bull. The first 2 principal components (PC) explained 42 to 51% of the total variance of the system across the 4 traits. The first PC, a measure of the level at which the curve is located, was interpreted as a measure of the level at which the DTD curve was located. The second PC, which shows the slope of increasing or decreases DTD curves, synthesized the behavior of the DTD pattern. Heritability of the 2 component scores was moderate to high for level across all traits (range = 0.23-0.82) and low to moderate for slope (range = 0.16-0.28). For each trait, phenotypic and genetic correlations between level and slope were equal to zero. A genome-wide association analysis was carried out on a subsample of 423 bulls genotyped with the Illumina 50K bovine bead chip (Illumina, San Diego, CA). Two single nucleotide polymorphisms were significantly associated with slope for milk yield, 4 with level for fat percentage, and 2 with level and slope of protein percentage, respectively. The gene discovery was carried out considering windows of 0.5 Mb surrounding the significant markers and highlighted some interesting candidate genes. Some of them have been already associated with the mechanism of heat tolerance as the heat shock transcription factor (HSF1) and the malonyl-CoA-acyl carrier protein transacylase (MCAT). The 2 PC were able to describe the overall level and the slope of response of milk production traits across increasing levels of THI index. Moreover, they exhibited genetic variability and were genetically uncorrelated. These features suggest their use as measures of thermotolerance in dairy cattle breeding schemes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- N P P Macciotta
- Dipartimento di Agraria, Università di Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy.
| | - S Biffani
- Associazione Italiana Allevatori, 00161 Roma, Italy
| | - U Bernabucci
- Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, Università degli Studi della Tuscia-Viterbo, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - N Lacetera
- Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, Università degli Studi della Tuscia-Viterbo, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - A Vitali
- Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, Università degli Studi della Tuscia-Viterbo, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - P Ajmone-Marsan
- Istituto di Zootecnica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 29122 Piacenza, Italy
| | - A Nardone
- Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, Università degli Studi della Tuscia-Viterbo, 01100 Viterbo, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Identification of selective sweeps reveals divergent selection between Chinese Holstein and Simmental cattle populations. Genet Sel Evol 2016; 48:76. [PMID: 27716022 PMCID: PMC5054554 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-016-0254-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2015] [Accepted: 09/26/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The identification of signals left by recent positive selection provides a feasible approach for targeting genomic variants that underlie complex traits and fitness. A better understanding of the selection mechanisms that occurred during the evolution of species can also be gained. In this study, we simultaneously detected the genome-wide footprints of recent positive selection that occurred within and between Chinese Holstein and Simmental populations, which have been subjected to artificial selection for distinct purposes. We conducted analyses using various complementary approaches, including LRH, XP-EHH and FST, based on the Illumina 770K high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array, to enable more comprehensive detection. Results We successfully constructed profiles of selective signals in both cattle populations. To further annotate these regions, we identified a set of novel functional genes related to growth, reproduction, immune response and milk production. There were no overlapping candidate windows between the two breeds. Finally, we investigated the distribution of SNPs that had low FST values across five distinct functional regions in the genome. In the low-minor allele frequency bin, we found a higher proportion of low-FST SNPs in the exons of the bovine genome, which indicates strong purifying selection of the exons. Conclusions The selection signatures identified in these two populations demonstrated positive selection pressure on a set of important genes with potential functions that are involved in many biological processes. We also demonstrated that in the bovine genome, exons were under strong purifying selection. Our findings provide insight into the mechanisms of artificial selection and will facilitate follow-up functional studies of potential candidate genes that are related to various economically important traits in cattle. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12711-016-0254-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Collapse
|
44
|
Wang T, Chen YPP, Bowman PJ, Goddard ME, Hayes BJ. A hybrid expectation maximisation and MCMC sampling algorithm to implement Bayesian mixture model based genomic prediction and QTL mapping. BMC Genomics 2016; 17:744. [PMID: 27654580 PMCID: PMC5031345 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-016-3082-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2016] [Accepted: 09/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Bayesian mixture models in which the effects of SNP are assumed to come from normal distributions with different variances are attractive for simultaneous genomic prediction and QTL mapping. These models are usually implemented with Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) sampling, which requires long compute times with large genomic data sets. Here, we present an efficient approach (termed HyB_BR), which is a hybrid of an Expectation-Maximisation algorithm, followed by a limited number of MCMC without the requirement for burn-in. Results To test prediction accuracy from HyB_BR, dairy cattle and human disease trait data were used. In the dairy cattle data, there were four quantitative traits (milk volume, protein kg, fat% in milk and fertility) measured in 16,214 cattle from two breeds genotyped for 632,002 SNPs. Validation of genomic predictions was in a subset of cattle either from the reference set or in animals from a third breeds that were not in the reference set. In all cases, HyB_BR gave almost identical accuracies to Bayesian mixture models implemented with full MCMC, however computational time was reduced by up to 1/17 of that required by full MCMC. The SNPs with high posterior probability of a non-zero effect were also very similar between full MCMC and HyB_BR, with several known genes affecting milk production in this category, as well as some novel genes. HyB_BR was also applied to seven human diseases with 4890 individuals genotyped for around 300 K SNPs in a case/control design, from the Welcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC). In this data set, the results demonstrated again that HyB_BR performed as well as Bayesian mixture models with full MCMC for genomic predictions and genetic architecture inference while reducing the computational time from 45 h with full MCMC to 3 h with HyB_BR. Conclusions The results for quantitative traits in cattle and disease in humans demonstrate that HyB_BR can perform equally well as Bayesian mixture models implemented with full MCMC in terms of prediction accuracy, but with up to 17 times faster than the full MCMC implementations. The HyB_BR algorithm makes simultaneous genomic prediction, QTL mapping and inference of genetic architecture feasible in large genomic data sets. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-3082-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Wang
- School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. .,Biosciences Research, Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. .,Dairy Futures Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
| | - Yi-Ping Phoebe Chen
- School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Phil J Bowman
- Biosciences Research, Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,Dairy Futures Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Michael E Goddard
- Biosciences Research, Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,Dairy Futures Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Ben J Hayes
- Biosciences Research, Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,Dairy Futures Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Centre for Animal Science, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Sequence-based Association Analysis Reveals an MGST1 eQTL with Pleiotropic Effects on Bovine Milk Composition. Sci Rep 2016; 6:25376. [PMID: 27146958 PMCID: PMC4857175 DOI: 10.1038/srep25376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2016] [Accepted: 04/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The mammary gland is a prolific lipogenic organ, synthesising copious amounts of triglycerides for secretion into milk. The fat content of milk varies widely both between and within species, and recent independent genome-wide association studies have highlighted a milk fat percentage quantitative trait locus (QTL) of large effect on bovine chromosome 5. Although both EPS8 and MGST1 have been proposed to underlie these signals, the causative status of these genes has not been functionally confirmed. To investigate this QTL in detail, we report genome sequence-based imputation and association mapping in a population of 64,244 taurine cattle. This analysis reveals a cluster of 17 non-coding variants spanning MGST1 that are highly associated with milk fat percentage, and a range of other milk composition traits. Further, we exploit a high-depth mammary RNA sequence dataset to conduct expression QTL (eQTL) mapping in 375 lactating cows, revealing a strong MGST1 eQTL underpinning these effects. These data demonstrate the utility of DNA and RNA sequence-based association mapping, and implicate MGST1, a gene with no obvious mechanistic relationship to milk composition regulation, as causally involved in these processes.
Collapse
|