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Salek Ardestani S, Zandi MB, Vahedi SM, Janssens S. Population structure and genomic footprints of selection in five major Iranian horse breeds. Anim Genet 2022; 53:627-639. [PMID: 35919961 DOI: 10.1111/age.13243] [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: 03/03/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The genetic structure and characteristics of Iranian native breeds are yet to be comprehensibly investigated and studied. Therefore, we employed genomic information of 364 Iranian native horses representing the Asil (n = 109), Caspian (n = 40), Dareshuri (n = 44), Kurdish (n = 95), and Turkoman (n = 76) breeds to reveal the genetic structure and characteristics. For these and 19 other horse breeds, principal component analysis, Bayesian model-based, Neighbor-Net, and bootstrap-based TreeMix approaches were applied to investigate and compare their genetic structure. Additionally, three haplotype-based methods including haplotype homozygosity pooled, integrated haplotype score, and number of segregating sites by length were applied to trace genomic footprints of selection of Asil, Caspian, Dareshuri, Kurdish, and Turkoman groups. Then, the Mahalanobis distance based on the negative-log10 rank-based P-values was estimated based on the haplotype homozygosity pooled, integrated haplotype score, and number of segregating sites by length values. Asil, Caspian, Dareshuri, Kurdish, and Turkoman can be categorized into five different genetic clusters. Based on the top 1% of Mahalanobis distance based on the negative-log10 rank-based P-values of SNPs, we identified 24 SNPs formerly reported to be associated with different traits and >100 genes undergoing selection pressures in Asil, Caspian, Dareshuri, Kurdish, and Turkoman. The detected QTL undergoing selection pressures were associated with withers height, equine metabolic syndrome, overall body size, insect bite hypersensitivity, guttural pouch tympany, white markings, Rhodococcus equi infection, jumping test score, alternate gaits, and body weight traits. Our findings will aid to have a better perspective of the genetic characteristics and population structure of Asil, Caspian, Dareshuri, Kurdish, and Turkoman horses as Iranian native horse breeds.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Seyed Milad Vahedi
- Department of Animal Science and Aquaculture, Dalhousie University, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Steven Janssens
- Department Biosystems, Center Animal Breeding and Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Dugué M, Dumont Saint Priest B, Crichan H, Danvy S, Ricard A. Genomic Correlations Between the Gaits of Young Horses Measured by Accelerometry and Functional Longevity in Jumping Competition. Front Genet 2021; 12:619947. [PMID: 33584826 PMCID: PMC7879571 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.619947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional longevity is essential for the well-being of horses and the satisfaction of riders. Conventional selection using longevity breeding values calculated from competition results is not efficient because it takes too long to obtain reliable information. Therefore, the objective was to identify early criteria for selection. We assessed two types of early criteria: gait traits of young horses and QTLs. Thus, our aim was to estimate the genetic correlation between gait traits and longevity and to perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for longevity. Measurements of gaits by accelerometry were recorded on 1,477 show jumping horses that were 4 to 5 years old. Gait analysis provided 9 principal components describing trot, canter, and walk. Longevity estimated breeding values (EBVs) for stallions were calculated using a survival analysis of more than 900,000 years of performances by 179,448 show jumping horses born from 1981 onwards. Longevity was measured as the number of years spent in competition. Model included region and month of birth, age at first competition, year, and performance level. Longevity EBVs were deregressed to obtain weighted pseudo-performances for 1,968 stallions. Genomic data were available for 3,658 jumping horses. Seventy-eight percent of the horses measured for gaits and twenty-five percent of those measured for longevity were genotyped. A GWAS of longevity revealed no significant QTLs. Genetic parameters between each of the 9 principal components of the gait variables and longevity were evaluated with a bi-trait animal linear mixed model using single-step GBLUP analysis with the relationship matrix constructed from genomic data and genealogy (24,448 ancestors over four generations). The heritability of the gait traits varied from 0.11 to 0.44. The third principal component for trot (high lateral activity) and the first principal component for canter (high dorsoventral activity and low stride frequency) were moderately genetically correlated with higher longevity: rg = 0.38 (0.15) and 0.28 (0.13), respectively. Our study revealed that functional longevity is a polygenic trait with no major genes. We found new correlations between longevity and gait traits. Before using gait characteristics in a selection plan, these correlations need to be understood better at the biomechanical level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manon Dugué
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | | | - Harmony Crichan
- Pôle Développement Innovation Recherche, IFCE, Gouffern en Auge, France
| | - Sophie Danvy
- Pôle Développement Innovation Recherche, IFCE, Gouffern en Auge, France
| | - Anne Ricard
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, GABI, Jouy-en-Josas, France.,Pôle Développement Innovation Recherche, IFCE, Gouffern en Auge, France
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Salek Ardestani S, Aminafshar M, Zandi Baghche Maryam MB, Banabazi MH, Sargolzaei M, Miar Y. A genome-wide signatures of selection study of Welsh ponies and draft horses revealed five genes associated with horse type variation. GENE REPORTS 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.genrep.2020.100833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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Gao S, Nanaei HA, Wei B, Wang Y, Wang X, Li Z, Dai X, Wang Z, Jiang Y, Shao J. Comparative Transcriptome Profiling Analysis Uncovers Novel Heterosis-Related Candidate Genes Associated with Muscular Endurance in Mules. Animals (Basel) 2020; 10:ani10060980. [PMID: 32512843 PMCID: PMC7341310 DOI: 10.3390/ani10060980] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Revised: 05/24/2020] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Mules have better and greater muscle endurance than hinnies and their parents. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying heterosis in their muscles are still much less understood. In this study, we conducted comparative transcriptome and alternative splicing analysis on the heterosis mechanism of muscular endurance in mules. Our results showed that 8 genes were significantly enriched in the “muscle contraction” pathway. In addition, 68% of the genes with alternative splicing events from the mule muscle tissue were validated by the long transcript reads generated from PacBio sequencing platform. Our findings provide a research foundation for studying the genetic basis of heterosis in mules. Abstract Heterosis has been widely exploited in animal and plant breeding programs to enhance the productive traits of hybrid progeny from two breeds or species. However, its underlying genetic mechanisms remain enigmatic. Transcriptome profiling analysis can be used as a method for exploring the mechanism of heterosis. Here, we performed genome-wide gene expression and alternative splicing (AS) analyses in different tissues (muscle, brain, and skin) from crosses between donkeys and horses. Our results indicated that 86.1% of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 87.2% of the differential alternative splicing (DAS) genes showed over-dominance and dominance in muscle. Further analysis showed that the “muscle contraction” pathway was significantly enriched for both the DEGs and DAS genes in mule muscle tissue. Taken together, these DEGs and DAS genes could provide an index for future studies of the genetic and molecular mechanism of heterosis in the hybrids of donkey and horse.
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Salek Ardestani S, Aminafshar M, Zandi Baghche Maryam MB, Banabazi MH, Sargolzaei M, Miar Y. Signatures of selection analysis using whole-genome sequence data reveals novel candidate genes for pony and light horse types. Genome 2020; 63:387-396. [PMID: 32407640 DOI: 10.1139/gen-2020-0001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Natural selection and domestication have shaped modern horse populations, resulting in a vast range of phenotypically diverse breeds. Horse breeds are classified into three types (pony, light, and draft) generally based on their body type. Understanding the genetic basis of horse type variation and selective pressures related to the evolutionary trend can be particularly important for current selection strategies. Whole-genome sequences were generated for 14 pony and 32 light horses to investigate the genetic signatures of selection of the horse type in pony and light horses. In the overlapping extremes of the fixation index and nucleotide diversity results, we found novel genomic signatures of selective sweeps near key genes previously implicated in body measurements including C4ORF33, CRB1, CPN1, FAM13A, and FGF12 that may influence variation in pony and light horse types. This study contributes to a better understanding of the genetic background of differences between pony and light horse types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siavash Salek Ardestani
- Department of Animal Science, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 1477893855, Iran
| | - Mehdi Aminafshar
- Department of Animal Science, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 1477893855, Iran
| | | | - Mohammad Hossein Banabazi
- Department of Biotechnology, Animal Science Research Institute of Iran, Agricultural Research, Education & Extension Organization, Karaj 3146618361, Iran
| | - Mehdi Sargolzaei
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON NIG 2W1, Canada.,Select Sires Inc., Plain City, OH 43064, USA
| | - Younes Miar
- Department of Animal Science and Aquaculture, Dalhousie University, Truro, NS B2N 5E3, Canada
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Campbell MLH, McNamee MJ. Ethics, Genetic Technologies and Equine Sports: The Prospect of Regulation of a Modified Therapeutic Use Exemption Policy. SPORT ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/17511321.2020.1737204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. L. H Campbell
- Department of Production and Population Sciences, The Royal Veterinary College, South Mymms, UK
| | - M. J. McNamee
- School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
- Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Asadollahpour Nanaei H, Ayatollahi Mehrgardi A, Esmailizadeh A. Whole-genome sequence analysis reveals candidate genomic footprints and genes associated with reproductive traits in Thoroughbred horse. Reprod Domest Anim 2020; 55:200-208. [PMID: 31858623 DOI: 10.1111/rda.13608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The primary objective of most horse breeding operations was to maximize reproductive efficiency and minimize the cost of producing live foals. Here, we compared individual horses from the Thoroughbred population (n = 17), known as a horse breed with poor reproductive performance, with other six horse populations (n = 28), to detect genomic signatures of positive selection underlying of reproductive traits. A number of protein-coding genes with significant (p-value <.01) higher FST values (616 genes) and a lower value for nucleotide diversity (π) (310 genes) were identified. The results of our study revealed some candidate genes such as IGFBP2, IGFBP5, GDF9, BRINP3 and GRID1 are possibly associated with functions influencing reproductive traits. These genes may have been under selection due to their essential roles in reproduction performance in horses. The candidate selected genes identified in this work should be of great interest for future research into genetic architecture of traits relevant to horse breeding programmes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ali Esmailizadeh
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
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Asadollahpour Nanaei H, Dehghani Qanatqestani M, Esmailizadeh A. Whole-genome resequencing reveals selection signatures associated with milk production traits in African Kenana dairy zebu cattle. Genomics 2020; 112:880-885. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2019.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2019] [Revised: 05/02/2019] [Accepted: 06/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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Salek Ardestani S, Aminafshar M, Zandi Baghche Maryam MB, Banabazi MH, Sargolzaei M, Miar Y. Whole-Genome Signatures of Selection in Sport Horses Revealed Selection Footprints Related to Musculoskeletal System Development Processes. Animals (Basel) 2019; 10:ani10010053. [PMID: 31888018 PMCID: PMC7023322 DOI: 10.3390/ani10010053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2019] [Revised: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Selective breeding has led to gradual changes at the genome level of horses. Deciphering selective pressure patterns is progressive to understand how breeding strategies have shaped the sport horse genome; although, little is known about the genomic regions under selective pressures in sport horse breeds. The major goal of this study was to shed light on genomic regions and biological pathways under selective pressures in sport horses. In this study, whole-genome sequences of 16 modern sport and 35 non-sport horses were used to investigate the genomic selective signals of sport performance, by employing fixation index, nucleotide diversity, and Tajima's D approaches. A total number of 49 shared genes were identified using these approaches. The functional enrichment analysis for candidate genes revealed novel significant biological processes related to musculoskeletal system development, such as limb development and morphogenesis, having been targeted by selection in sport breeds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siavash Salek Ardestani
- Department of Animal Science, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 1477893855, Iran; (S.S.A.); (M.A.)
| | - Mehdi Aminafshar
- Department of Animal Science, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 1477893855, Iran; (S.S.A.); (M.A.)
| | | | - Mohammad Hossein Banabazi
- Department of Biotechnology, Animal Science Research Institute of Iran (ASRI), Agricultural Research, Education & Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj 3146618361, Iran;
| | - Mehdi Sargolzaei
- Department of Pathobiology, Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON NIG2W1, Canada;
- Select Sires Inc., Plain City, OH 43064, USA
| | - Younes Miar
- Department of Animal Science and Aquaculture, Dalhousie University, Truro, NS B2N5E3, Canada
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-902-893-6165
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Raudsepp T, Finno CJ, Bellone RR, Petersen JL. Ten years of the horse reference genome: insights into equine biology, domestication and population dynamics in the post-genome era. Anim Genet 2019; 50:569-597. [PMID: 31568563 PMCID: PMC6825885 DOI: 10.1111/age.12857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The horse reference genome from the Thoroughbred mare Twilight has been available for a decade and, together with advances in genomics technologies, has led to unparalleled developments in equine genomics. At the core of this progress is the continuing improvement of the quality, contiguity and completeness of the reference genome, and its functional annotation. Recent achievements include the release of the next version of the reference genome (EquCab3.0) and generation of a reference sequence for the Y chromosome. Horse satellite‐free centromeres provide unique models for mammalian centromere research. Despite extremely low genetic diversity of the Y chromosome, it has been possible to trace patrilines of breeds and pedigrees and show that Y variation was lost in the past approximately 2300 years owing to selective breeding. The high‐quality reference genome has led to the development of three different SNP arrays and WGSs of almost 2000 modern individual horses. The collection of WGS of hundreds of ancient horses is unique and not available for any other domestic species. These tools and resources have led to global population studies dissecting the natural history of the species and genetic makeup and ancestry of modern breeds. Most importantly, the available tools and resources, together with the discovery of functional elements, are dissecting molecular causes of a growing number of Mendelian and complex traits. The improved understanding of molecular underpinnings of various traits continues to benefit the health and performance of the horse whereas also serving as a model for complex disease across species.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Raudsepp
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Research, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | - C J Finno
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - R R Bellone
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.,School of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - J L Petersen
- Department of Animal Science, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, 68583-0908, USA
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