Pleiotropic multi-trait genome-wide association reveals putative candidate genes for fatty acid composition in Australian sheep — ASN Events

Pleiotropic multi-trait genome-wide association reveals putative candidate genes for fatty acid composition in Australian sheep (#31)

Bolormaa Sunduimijid 1 , Julius van der Werf 2 , Ben Hayes 1 , Michael Goddard 1 , Hans Daetwyler 1
  1. Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
  2. University of New England, Armidale, VIC, Australia

The aims of this paper were to detect SNP and genes that affect the fatty acid composition and other carcass and meat quality traits in sheep. We performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for 56 traits including carcass weights, muscling, fatness, tenderness, meat color, mineral content, and fatty acid composition on 10,613 animals genotyped for 510,174 SNPs. A meta-analysis was used to combine information from the 56 traits and this increased the power to detect QTL compared with the single trait analyses. We found pleiotropic QTL, which appear to cluster into 5 functional groups based on their trait effects. Candidate genes were identified in the groups that have functions consistent with the biology of the traits.

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