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Ramljak J, Špehar M, Ceranac D, Držaić V, Pocrnić I, Barać D, Mioč B, Širić I, Barać Z, Ivanković A, Kasap A. Genomic Characterization of Local Croatian Sheep Breeds-Effective Population Size, Inbreeding & Signatures of Selection. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:1928. [PMID: 38998043 PMCID: PMC11240672 DOI: 10.3390/ani14131928] [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: 06/05/2024] [Revised: 06/21/2024] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/14/2024] Open
Abstract
The Istrian (IS) and the Pag sheep (PS) are local Croatian breeds which provide significant income for the regional economy and have a cultural and traditional importance for the inhabitants. The aim of this study was to estimate some important population specific genetic parameters in IS (N = 1293) and PS (N = 2637) based on genome wide SNPs. Estimates of linkage disequilibrium effective population size (Ne) evidenced more genetic variability in PS (Ne = 838) compared to IS (Ne = 197), regardless of historical time (both recent and ancient genetic variability). The discrepancy in the recent genetic variability between these breeds was additionally confirmed by the estimates of genomic inbreeding (FROH), which was estimated to be notably higher in IS (FROH>2 = 0.062) than in PS (FROH>2 = 0.029). The average FROH2-4, FROH4-8, FROH8-16, and FROH>16 were 0.26, 1.65, 2.14, and 3.72 for IS and 0.22, 0.61, 0.75, and 1.58 for PS, thus evidencing a high contribution of recent inbreeding in the overall inbreeding. One ROH island with > 30% of SNP incidence in ROHs was detected in IS (OAR6; 34,253,440-38,238,124 bp) while there was no ROH islands detected in PS. Seven genes (CCSER1, HERC3, LCORL, NAP1L5, PKD2, PYURF, and SPP1) involved in growth, feed intake, milk production, immune responses, and resistance were associated with the found autozygosity. The results of this study represent the first comprehensive insight into genomic variability of these two Croatian local sheep breeds and will serve as a baseline for setting up the most promising strategy of genomic Optimum Contribution Selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelena Ramljak
- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (V.D.); (B.M.); (I.Š.); (A.I.); (A.K.)
| | - Marija Špehar
- Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (M.Š.); (D.C.); (D.B.)
| | - Dora Ceranac
- Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (M.Š.); (D.C.); (D.B.)
| | - Valentino Držaić
- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (V.D.); (B.M.); (I.Š.); (A.I.); (A.K.)
| | - Ivan Pocrnić
- The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK;
| | - Dolores Barać
- Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (M.Š.); (D.C.); (D.B.)
| | - Boro Mioč
- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (V.D.); (B.M.); (I.Š.); (A.I.); (A.K.)
| | - Ivan Širić
- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (V.D.); (B.M.); (I.Š.); (A.I.); (A.K.)
| | | | - Ante Ivanković
- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (V.D.); (B.M.); (I.Š.); (A.I.); (A.K.)
| | - Ante Kasap
- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (V.D.); (B.M.); (I.Š.); (A.I.); (A.K.)
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Novo I, Ordás P, Moraga N, Santiago E, Quesada H, Caballero A. Impact of population structure in the estimation of recent historical effective population size by the software GONE. Genet Sel Evol 2023; 55:86. [PMID: 38049712 PMCID: PMC10694967 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-023-00859-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Effective population size (Ne) is a crucial parameter in conservation genetics and animal breeding. A recent method, implemented by the software GONE, has been shown to be rather accurate in estimating recent historical changes in Ne from a single sample of individuals. However, GONE estimations assume that the population being studied has remained isolated for a period of time, that is, without migration or confluence of other populations. If this occurs, the estimates of Ne can be heavily biased. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of migration and admixture on the estimates of historical Ne provided by GONE through a series of computer simulations considering several scenarios: (a) the mixture of two or more ancestral populations; (b) subpopulations that continuously exchange individuals through migration; (c) populations receiving migrants from a large source; and (d) populations with balanced systems of chromosomal inversions, which also generate genetic structure. RESULTS Our results indicate that the estimates of historical Ne provided by GONE may be substantially biased when there has been a recent mixture of populations that were previously separated for a long period of time. Similarly, biases may occur when the rate of continued migration between populations is low, or when chromosomal inversions are present at high frequencies. However, some biases due to population structuring can be eliminated by conducting population structure analyses and restricting the estimation to the differentiated groups. In addition, disregarding the genomic regions that are involved in inversions can also remove biases in the estimates of Ne. CONCLUSIONS Different kinds of deviations from isolation and panmixia of the populations can generate biases in the recent historical estimates of Ne. Therefore, estimation of past demography could benefit from performing population structure analyses beforehand, by mitigating the impact of these biases on historical Ne estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Novo
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Facultade de Bioloxía, 36310, Vigo, Spain.
| | - Pilar Ordás
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Facultade de Bioloxía, 36310, Vigo, Spain
| | - Natalia Moraga
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Facultade de Bioloxía, 36310, Vigo, Spain
| | - Enrique Santiago
- Departamento de Biología Funcional, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Oviedo, 33006, Oviedo, Spain
| | - Humberto Quesada
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Facultade de Bioloxía, 36310, Vigo, Spain
| | - Armando Caballero
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Facultade de Bioloxía, 36310, Vigo, Spain
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Lukic B, Curik I, Drzaic I, Galić V, Shihabi M, Vostry L, Cubric-Curik V. Genomic signatures of selection, local adaptation and production type characterisation of East Adriatic sheep breeds. J Anim Sci Biotechnol 2023; 14:142. [PMID: 37932811 PMCID: PMC10626677 DOI: 10.1186/s40104-023-00936-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The importance of sheep breeding in the Mediterranean part of the eastern Adriatic has a long tradition since its arrival during the Neolithic migrations. Sheep production system is extensive and generally carried out in traditional systems without intensive systematic breeding programmes for high uniform trait production (carcass, wool and milk yield). Therefore, eight indigenous Croatian sheep breeds from eastern Adriatic treated here as metapopulation (EAS), are generally considered as multipurpose breeds (milk, meat and wool), not specialised for a particular type of production, but known for their robustness and resistance to certain environmental conditions. Our objective was to identify genomic regions and genes that exhibit patterns of positive selection signatures, decipher their biological and productive functionality, and provide a "genomic" characterization of EAS adaptation and determine its production type. RESULTS We identified positive selection signatures in EAS using several methods based on reduced local variation, linkage disequilibrium and site frequency spectrum (eROHi, iHS, nSL and CLR). Our analyses identified numerous genomic regions and genes (e.g., desmosomal cadherin and desmoglein gene families) associated with environmental adaptation and economically important traits. Most candidate genes were related to meat/production and health/immune response traits, while some of the candidate genes discovered were important for domestication and evolutionary processes (e.g., HOXa gene family and FSIP2). These results were also confirmed by GO and QTL enrichment analysis. CONCLUSIONS Our results contribute to a better understanding of the unique adaptive genetic architecture of EAS and define its productive type, ultimately providing a new opportunity for future breeding programmes. At the same time, the numerous genes identified will improve our understanding of ruminant (sheep) robustness and resistance in the harsh and specific Mediterranean environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boris Lukic
- Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek, J.J, Strossmayer University of Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, 31000, Osijek, Croatia.
| | - Ino Curik
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 25, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia.
| | - Ivana Drzaic
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 25, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Vlatko Galić
- Department of Maize Breeding and Genetics, Agricultural Institute Osijek, Južno predgrađe 17, 31000, Osijek, Croatia
| | - Mario Shihabi
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 25, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Luboš Vostry
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00, Praque, Czech Republic
| | - Vlatka Cubric-Curik
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 25, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
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Novo I, Pérez-Pereira N, Santiago E, Quesada H, Caballero A. An empirical test of the estimation of historical effective population size using Drosophila melanogaster. Mol Ecol Resour 2023; 23:1632-1640. [PMID: 37455584 DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
The availability of a large number of high-density markers (SNPs) allows the estimation of historical effective population size (Ne ) from linkage disequilibrium between loci. A recent refinement of methods to estimate historical Ne from the recent past has been shown to be rather accurate with simulation data. The method has also been applied to real data for numerous species. However, the simulation data cannot encompass all the complexities of real genomes, and the performance of any estimation method with real data is always uncertain, as the true demography of the populations is not known. Here, we carried out an experimental design with Drosophila melanogaster to test the method with real data following a known demographic history. We used a population maintained in the laboratory with a constant census size of about 2800 individuals and subjected the population to a drastic decline to a size of 100 individuals. After a few generations, the population was expanded back to the previous size and after a few further generations again expanded to twice the initial size. Estimates of historical Ne were obtained with the software GONE both for autosomal and X chromosomes from samples of 17 individuals sequenced for the whole genome. Estimates of the historical effective size were able to infer the patterns of changes that occurred in the populations showing generally good performance of the method. We discuss the limitations of the method and the application of the software carried out so far.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Novo
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Facultade de Bioloxía, Vigo, Spain
| | - Noelia Pérez-Pereira
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Facultade de Bioloxía, Vigo, Spain
| | - Enrique Santiago
- Departamento de Biología Funcional, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
| | - Humberto Quesada
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Facultade de Bioloxía, Vigo, Spain
| | - Armando Caballero
- Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Facultade de Bioloxía, Vigo, Spain
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