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Meyermans R, Gorssen W, Aerts N, Hooyberghs K, Chakkingal Bhaskaran B, Chapard L, Buys N, Janssens S. Genomic characterisation and diversity assessment of eight endangered Belgian sheep breeds. Animal 2024; 18:101315. [PMID: 39276394 DOI: 10.1016/j.animal.2024.101315] [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: 05/10/2024] [Revised: 08/05/2024] [Accepted: 08/17/2024] [Indexed: 09/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Assessing the genetic diversity of local breeds is essential for conserving these unique breeds, which may possess unique traits. This study provides the genomic characterisation of eight indigenous sheep breeds in Belgium based on pedigree and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis. A total of 687 sheep were genotyped and were subjected to a rigorous quality control, resulting in a set of 45 978 autosomal SNPs. Pedigree analysis showed breed-average inbreeding estimates between 3.3% and 11.3%. The genomic analysis included an assessment of runs of homozygosity (ROH) to examine the genomic inbreeding coefficient, with breed-average inbreeding coefficients estimated between 4.1% and 8.5%. Runs of homozygosity islands were identified in six of the eight breeds studied, with some exhibiting an incidence of up to 58%. Interestingly, several ROH islands overlapped with other breeds included in this study, as well as with international sheep breeds. Pedigree-based effective population sizes were estimated below 100 for all breeds, whereas genomic-based effective population sizes were below 24, indicating that these eight local sheep breeds are endangered. Principal component analysis, admixture analyses, and Fst computations were used to study the population structure and genetic differences. A neighbour-joining tree using 95 international sheep breeds positioned the eight local breeds in the group of milksheep, Texel sheep and the Scandinavian breeds. Additionally, the investigation of paternal oY1 genotypes revealed diverse lineage origins within the Belgian sheep population. This study refines and deepens our knowledge about the local sheep breeds in Belgium, thereby improving their management and conservation. Moreover, as these breeds are linked to other international breeds, these insights are significant for the global scientific community.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Meyermans
- Center for Animal Breeding and Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
| | - W Gorssen
- Center for Animal Breeding and Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - N Aerts
- Center for Animal Breeding and Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - K Hooyberghs
- Center for Animal Breeding and Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - B Chakkingal Bhaskaran
- Center for Animal Breeding and Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - L Chapard
- Center for Animal Breeding and Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - N Buys
- Center for Animal Breeding and Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - S Janssens
- Center for Animal Breeding and Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
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Hewett AM, Stoffel MA, Peters L, Johnston SE, Pemberton JM. Selection, recombination and population history effects on runs of homozygosity (ROH) in wild red deer (Cervus elaphus). Heredity (Edinb) 2023; 130:242-250. [PMID: 36801920 PMCID: PMC10076382 DOI: 10.1038/s41437-023-00602-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Revised: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The distribution of runs of homozygosity (ROH) may be shaped by a number of interacting processes such as selection, recombination and population history, but little is known about the importance of these mechanisms in shaping ROH in wild populations. We combined an empirical dataset of >3000 red deer genotyped at >35,000 genome-wide autosomal SNPs and evolutionary simulations to investigate the influence of each of these factors on ROH. We assessed ROH in a focal and comparison population to investigate the effect of population history. We investigated the role of recombination using both a physical map and a genetic linkage map to search for ROH. We found differences in ROH distribution between both populations and map types indicating that population history and local recombination rate have an effect on ROH. Finally, we ran forward genetic simulations with varying population histories, recombination rates and levels of selection, allowing us to further interpret our empirical data. These simulations showed that population history has a greater effect on ROH distribution than either recombination or selection. We further show that selection can cause genomic regions where ROH is common, only when the effective population size (Ne) is large or selection is particularly strong. In populations having undergone a population bottleneck, genetic drift can outweigh the effect of selection. Overall, we conclude that in this population, genetic drift resulting from a historical population bottleneck is most likely to have resulted in the observed ROH distribution, with selection possibly playing a minor role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna M Hewett
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FL, UK.
| | - Martin A Stoffel
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Lucy Peters
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FL, UK
- GenPhySE, Université de Toulouse, INRAE, ENVT, 31326, Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Susan E Johnston
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Josephine M Pemberton
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FL, UK
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Mastrangelo S, Ben-Jemaa S, Perini F, Cendron F, Biscarini F, Lasagna E, Penasa M, Cassandro M. Genome-wide mapping of signatures of selection using a high-density array identified candidate genes for growth traits and local adaptation in chickens. Genet Sel Evol 2023; 55:20. [PMID: 36959552 PMCID: PMC10035218 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-023-00790-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Availability of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping arrays and progress in statistical analyses have allowed the identification of genomic regions and genes under selection in chicken. In this study, SNP data from the 600 K Affymetrix chicken array were used to detect signatures of selection in 23 local Italian chicken populations. The populations were categorized into four groups for comparative analysis based on live weight (heavy vs light) and geographical area (Northern vs Southern Italy). Putative signatures of selection were investigated by combining three extended haplotype homozygosity (EHH) statistical approaches to quantify excess of haplotype homozygosity within (iHS) and between (Rsb and XP-EHH) groups. Presence of runs of homozygosity (ROH) islands was also analysed for each group. RESULTS After editing, 541 animals and 313,508 SNPs were available for statistical analyses. In total, 15 candidate genomic regions that are potentially under selection were detected among the four groups: eight within a group by iHS and seven by combining the results of Rsb and XP-EHH, which revealed divergent selection between the groups. The largest overlap between genomic regions identified to be under selection by the three approaches was on chicken chromosome 8. Twenty-one genomic regions were identified with the ROH approach but none of these overlapped with regions identified with the three EHH-derived statistics. Some of the identified regions under selection contained candidate genes with biological functions related to environmental stress, immune responses, and disease resistance, which indicate local adaptation of these chicken populations. CONCLUSIONS Compared to commercial lines, local populations are predominantly reared as backyard chickens, and thus, may have developed stronger resistance to environmental challenges. Our results indicate that selection can play an important role in shaping signatures of selection in local chicken populations and can be a starting point to identify gene mutations that could have a useful role with respect to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salvatore Mastrangelo
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Slim Ben-Jemaa
- Laboratoire des Productions Animales et Fourragères, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie, Université de Carthage, 2049, Ariana, Tunisia
| | - Francesco Perini
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, 06121, Perugia, Italy
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, 35020, Legnaro, Italy
| | - Filippo Cendron
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, 35020, Legnaro, Italy.
| | - Filippo Biscarini
- Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology (IBBA), National Research Council (CNR), 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Emiliano Lasagna
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, 06121, Perugia, Italy
| | - Mauro Penasa
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, 35020, Legnaro, Italy
| | - Martino Cassandro
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, 35020, Legnaro, Italy
- Federazione delle Associazioni Nazionali di Razza e Specie, 00187, Rome, Italy
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Falchi L, Cesarani A, Mastrangelo S, Senczuk G, Portolano B, Pilla F, Macciotta NPP. Analysis of runs of homozygosity of cattle living in different climate zones. J Anim Sci 2023; 101:skad061. [PMID: 36802370 PMCID: PMC10066727 DOI: 10.1093/jas/skad061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Aim of this study was to analyze the distribution and characteristics of runs of homozygosity in Bos taurus taurus and Bos taurus indicus breeds, as well as their crosses, farmed all around the world. With this aim in view, we used single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) genotypes for 3,263 cattle belonging to 204 different breeds. After quality control, 23,311 SNPs were retained for the analysis. Animals were divided into seven different groups: 1) continental taurus, 2) temperate taurus, 3) temperate indicus, 4) temperate composite, 5) tropical taurus, 6) tropical indicus, and 7) tropical composite. The climatic zones were created according to the latitude of the breeds' country of origin: i) continental, latitude ≥ 45°; ii) temperate, 45°< Latitude >23.26°; iii) tropics, latitude ≤ 23.26°. Runs of homozygosity were computed as 15 SNPs spanning in at least 2 Mb; number of ROH per animal (nROH), average ROH length (meanMb), and ROH-based inbreeding coefficients (FROH) were also computed. Temperate indicus showed the largest nROH, whereas Temperate taurus the lowest value. Moreover, the largest meanMb was observed for Temperate taurus, whereas the lowest value for Tropics indicus. Temperate indicus breeds showed the largest FROH values. Genes mapped in the identified ROH were reported to be associated with the environmental adaptation, disease resistance, coat color determinism, and production traits. Results of the present study confirmed that runs of homozygosity could be used to identify genomic signatures due to both artificial and natural selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Falchi
- Dipartimento di Agraria, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy
| | - Alberto Cesarani
- Dipartimento di Agraria, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy
- Department of Animal and Dairy Science, University of Georgia, 30602 Athens, USA
| | - Salvatore Mastrangelo
- Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Gabriele Senczuk
- Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Ambiente e Alimenti, University of Molise, 86100 Campobasso, Italy
| | - Baldassare Portolano
- Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
| | - Fabio Pilla
- Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Ambiente e Alimenti, University of Molise, 86100 Campobasso, Italy
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Cesarani A, Mastrangelo S, Congiu M, Portolano B, Gaspa G, Tolone M, Macciotta NPP. Relationship between inbreeding and milk production traits in two Italian dairy sheep breeds. J Anim Breed Genet 2023; 140:28-38. [PMID: 36239218 PMCID: PMC10092622 DOI: 10.1111/jbg.12741] [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: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The effects of inbreeding in livestock species breeds have been well documented and they have a negative impact on profitability. The objective of this study was to evaluate the levels of inbreeding in Sarda (SAR, n = 785) and Valle del Belice (VdB, n = 473) dairy sheep breeds and their impact on milk production traits. Two inbreeding coefficients (F) were estimated: using pedigree (FPED ), or runs of homozygosity (ROH; FROH ) at different minimum ROH lengths and different ROH classes. After the quality control, 38,779 single nucleotide polymorphisms remained for further analyses. A mixed-linear model was used to evaluate the impact of inbreeding coefficients on production traits within each breed. VdB showed higher inbreeding coefficients compared to SAR, with both breeds showing lower estimates as the minimum ROH length increased. Significant inbreeding depression was found only for milk yield, with a loss of around 7 g/day (for SAR) and 9 g/day (VdB) for a 1% increase of FROH . The present study confirms how the use of genomic information can be used to manage intra-breed diversity and to calculate the effects of inbreeding on phenotypic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Cesarani
- Dipartimento di Agraria, Università di Sassari, Sassari, Italy.,Department of Animal and Dairy Science, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
| | - Salvatore Mastrangelo
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Michele Congiu
- Dipartimento di Agraria, Università di Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Baldassare Portolano
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Giustino Gaspa
- Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari, Università di Torino, Grugliasco, Italy
| | - Marco Tolone
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
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Chessari G, Criscione A, Tolone M, Bordonaro S, Rizzuto I, Riggio S, Macaluso V, Moscarelli A, Portolano B, Sardina MT, Mastrangelo S. High-density SNP markers elucidate the genetic divergence and population structure of Noticiana sheep breed in the Mediterranean context. Front Vet Sci 2023; 10:1127354. [PMID: 37205231 PMCID: PMC10185747 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1127354] [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: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Among livestock species, sheep have played an early major role in the Mediterranean area. Italy has a long history of sheep breeding and, despite a dramatic contraction in numbers, still raise several local populations that may represent a unique source of genetic diversity. The Noticiana is a breed of the south-eastern part of Sicily appreciated both for its dairy products and for its resistance to harsh environment. In this study, the high-density Illumina Ovine SNP600K BeadChip array was used for the first genome-wide characterization of 48 individuals of Noticiana sheep to investigate its diversity, the genome structure and the relationship within the context of worldwide and Italian breeds. Moreover, the runs of homozygosity (ROH) pattern and the pairwise FST-outliers were examined. Noticiana reported moderate levels of genetic diversity. The high percentage of short and medium length ROH segments (93% under 4 Mb) is indicative of a within breed relatedness dating back to ancient times, despite the absence of management for the mating plans and the reduced population size. In the worldwide context, the Southern Italian, Spanish and Albanian breeds overlapped in a macro cluster which also included the Noticiana sheep. The results highlighted ancestral genetic components of Noticiana shared with Comisana breed, and showed the clear separation from the other Italian sheep. This is likely the consequence of the combined effects of genetic drift, small population size and reproductive isolation. ROH islands and FST-outliers approaches in Noticiana identified genes and QTLs involved in milk and meat production, as well as related to the local adaptation, and therefore are consistent with the phenotypic traits of the studied breed. Although a wider sampling could be useful to deepen the genomic survey on Noticiana, these results represent a crucial starting point for the characterization of an important local genetic resource, with a view of supporting the local economy and preserving the biodiversity of the sheep species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Chessari
- Dipartimento Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Andrea Criscione
- Dipartimento Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Marco Tolone
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Salvatore Bordonaro
- Dipartimento Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Ilaria Rizzuto
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Silvia Riggio
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Vito Macaluso
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Angelo Moscarelli
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Baldassare Portolano
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Maria Teresa Sardina
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Salvatore Mastrangelo
- Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
- *Correspondence: Salvatore Mastrangelo,
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Shihabi M, Lukic B, Cubric-Curik V, Brajkovic V, Oršanić M, Ugarković D, Vostry L, Curik I. Identification of Selection Signals on the X-Chromosome in East Adriatic Sheep: A New Complementary Approach. Front Genet 2022; 13:887582. [PMID: 35615375 PMCID: PMC9126029 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.887582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Sheep are one of the most important livestock species in Croatia, found mainly in the Mediterranean coastal and mountainous regions along the East Adriatic coast, well adapted to the environment and mostly kept extensively. Our main objective was therefore to map the positive selection of the X-chromosome (18,983 SNPs that passed quality control), since nothing is known about the adaptation genes on this chromosome for any of the breeds from the Balkan cluster. Analyses were performed on a sample of eight native Croatian breeds (101 females and 100 males) representing the East Adriatic metapopulation and on 10 mouflons (five females and males), all sampled in Croatia. Three classical within-population approaches (extreme Runs of Homozygosity islands, integrated Haplotype Score, and number of Segregating Sites by Length) were applied along with our new approach called Haplotype Richness Drop (HRiD), which uses only the information contained in male haplotypes. We have also shown that phylogenetic analyses, such as the Median-joining network, can provide additional information when performed with the selection signals identified by HRiD. Our new approach identifies positive selection signals by searching for genomic regions that exhibit a sudden decline in haplotype richness. In total, we identified 14 positive selection signals, 11 using the classical approach and three using the HRiD approach, all together containing 34 annotated genes. The most reliable selection signal was mapped by all four approaches in the same region, overlapping between 13.17 and 13.60 Mb, and assigned to the CA5B, ZRSR2, AP1S2, and GRPR genes. High repeatability (86%) of results was observed, as 12 identified selection signals were also confirmed in other studies with sheep. HRiD offers an interesting possibility to be used complementary to other approaches or when only males are genotyped, which is often the case in genomic breeding value estimations. These results highlight the importance of the X-chromosome in the adaptive architecture of domestic ruminants, while our novel HRiD approach opens new possibilities for research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Shihabi
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- *Correspondence: Mario Shihabi, ; Ino Curik,
| | - Boris Lukic
- Department for Animal Production and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek, J.J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
| | - Vlatka Cubric-Curik
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Vladimir Brajkovic
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Milan Oršanić
- Department of Forest Ecology and Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Damir Ugarković
- Department of Forest Ecology and Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Luboš Vostry
- Department of Genetics and Breeding, Faculty Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czechia
| | - Ino Curik
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- *Correspondence: Mario Shihabi, ; Ino Curik,
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