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Ceccobelli S, Landi V, Senczuk G, Mastrangelo S, Sardina MT, Ben-Jemaa S, Persichilli C, Karsli T, Bâlteanu VA, Raschia MA, Poli MA, Ciappesoni G, Muchadeyi FC, Dzomba EF, Kunene NW, Lühken G, Deniskova TE, Dotsev AV, Zinovieva NA, Zsolnai A, Anton I, Kusza S, Carolino N, Santos-Silva F, Kawęcka A, Świątek M, Niżnikowski R, Špehar M, Anaya G, Granero A, Perloiro T, Cardoso P, Grande S, de Los Santos BL, Danchin-Burge C, Pasquini M, Martínez Martínez A, Delgado Bermejo JV, Lasagna E, Ciani E, Sarti FM, Pilla F. A comprehensive analysis of the genetic diversity and environmental adaptability in worldwide Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds. Genet Sel Evol 2023; 55:24. [PMID: 37013467 PMCID: PMC10069132 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-023-00797-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND To enhance and extend the knowledge about the global historical and phylogenetic relationships between Merino and Merino-derived breeds, 19 populations were genotyped with the OvineSNP50 BeadChip specifically for this study, while an additional 23 populations from the publicly available genotypes were retrieved. Three complementary statistical tests, Rsb (extended haplotype homozygosity between-populations), XP-EHH (cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity), and runs of homozygosity (ROH) islands were applied to identify genomic variants with potential impact on the adaptability of Merino genetic type in two contrasting climate zones. RESULTS The results indicate that a large part of the Merino's genetic relatedness and admixture patterns are explained by their genetic background and/or geographic origin, followed by local admixture. Multi-dimensional scaling, Neighbor-Net, Admixture, and TREEMIX analyses consistently provided evidence of the role of Australian, Rambouillet and German strains in the extensive gene introgression into the other Merino and Merino-derived breeds. The close relationship between Iberian Merinos and other South-western European breeds is consistent with the Iberian origin of the Merino genetic type, with traces from previous contributions of other Mediterranean stocks. Using Rsb and XP-EHH approaches, signatures of selection were detected spanning four genomic regions located on Ovis aries chromosomes (OAR) 1, 6 and 16, whereas two genomic regions on OAR6, that partially overlapped with the previous ones, were highlighted by ROH islands. Overall, the three approaches identified 106 candidate genes putatively under selection. Among them, genes related to immune response were identified via the gene interaction network. In addition, several candidate genes were found, such as LEKR1, LCORL, GHR, RBPJ, BMPR1B, PPARGC1A, and PRKAA1, related to morphological, growth and reproductive traits, adaptive thermogenesis, and hypoxia responses. CONCLUSIONS To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive dataset that includes most of the Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds raised in different regions of the world. The results provide an in-depth picture of the genetic makeup of the current Merino and Merino-derived breeds, highlighting the possible selection pressures associated with the combined effect of anthropic and environmental factors. The study underlines the importance of Merino genetic types as invaluable resources of possible adaptive diversity in the context of the occurring climate changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Ceccobelli
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131, Ancona, Italy.
| | - Vincenzo Landi
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari ''Aldo Moro", 70010, Valenzano, Italy
| | - Gabriele Senczuk
- Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, 86100, Campobasso, Italy
| | - Salvatore Mastrangelo
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Maria Teresa Sardina
- 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
| | - Christian Persichilli
- Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, 86100, Campobasso, Italy
| | - Taki Karsli
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, 26040, Eskisehir, Turkey
| | - Valentin-Adrian Bâlteanu
- Laboratory of Genomics, Biodiversity, Animal Breeding and Molecular Pathology, Institute of Life Sciences, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - María Agustina Raschia
- Instituto de Genética "Ewald A. Favret", Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, CICVyA-CNIA, B1686, Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mario Andrés Poli
- Instituto de Genética "Ewald A. Favret", Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, CICVyA-CNIA, B1686, Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gabriel Ciappesoni
- Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria, 90200, Canelones, Uruguay
| | | | - Edgar Farai Dzomba
- Discipline of Genetics, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 3209, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
| | | | - Gesine Lühken
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Justus Liebig University, 35390, Giessen, Germany
| | | | | | | | - Attila Zsolnai
- Department of Animal Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kaposvár Campus, 2053, Herceghalom, Hungary
| | - István Anton
- Department of Animal Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kaposvár Campus, 2053, Herceghalom, Hungary
| | - Szilvia Kusza
- Centre for Agricultural Genomics and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, 4032, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Nuno Carolino
- Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, 2005-048, Vale de Santarém, Portugal
| | - Fátima Santos-Silva
- Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, 2005-048, Vale de Santarém, Portugal
| | - Aldona Kawęcka
- Department of Sheep and Goat Breeding, National Research Institute of Animal Production, 32-083, Kraków, Poland
| | - Marcin Świątek
- Department of Animal Breeding, Institute of Animal Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, 02-786, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Roman Niżnikowski
- Department of Animal Breeding, Institute of Animal Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, 02-786, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Marija Špehar
- Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Gabriel Anaya
- MERAGEM Group, Department of Genetics, University of Córdoba, 14071, Córdoba, Spain
| | - Antonio Granero
- Asociación Nacional de Criadores de Ganado Merino (ACME), 28028, Madrid, Spain
| | - Tiago Perloiro
- Associação Nacional de Criadores de Ovinos da Raça Merina (ANCORME), 7005-665, Évora, Portugal
| | - Pedro Cardoso
- Associação de Produtores Agropecuários (OVIBEIRA), 6000-244, Castelo Branco, Portugal
| | - Silverio Grande
- Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia (ASSONAPA), 00187, Rome, Italy
| | | | | | - Marina Pasquini
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131, Ancona, Italy
| | | | | | - Emiliano Lasagna
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, 06121, Perugia, Italy
| | - Elena Ciani
- Department of Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", 70124, Bari, Italy
| | - Francesca Maria Sarti
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, 06121, Perugia, Italy
| | - Fabio Pilla
- Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, 86100, Campobasso, Italy
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