Progress of genome wide association study in domestic animals

Abstract

Domestic animals are invaluable resources for study of the molecular architecture of complex traits. Although the mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) responsible for economically important traits in domestic animals has achieved remarkable results in recent decades, not all of the genetic variation in the complex traits has been captured because of the low density of markers used in QTL mapping studies. The genome wide association study (GWAS), which utilizes high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), provides a new way to tackle this issue. Encouraging achievements in dissection of the genetic mechanisms of complex diseases in humans have resulted from the use of GWAS. At present, GWAS has been applied to the field of domestic animal breeding and genetics, and some advances have been made. Many genes or markers that affect economic traits of interest in domestic animals have been identified. In this review, advances in the use of GWAS in domestic animals are described.

Genome-wide association study on growth traits in Colombian creole breeds and crossbreeds with Zebu cattle

“…The former was 16 bp downstream of an ankyrin repeat and the SOCS box containing 3 (ASB3) gene and 46 bp upstream of the endoplasmic reticulum lectin 1 (ERLEC1) gene. Using the same approach, the study conducted by Zhang et al (2012) showed an association between carcass traits and fatty acid composition with 91 functional genes in Wagyu x Angus F1 cattle, suggesting that ASB3 can significantly affect the back fat trait. On the other hand, the ERLEC1 gene encodes a resident endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein that functions in N-glycan recognition.…”

“…The positional cloning approach considers genes that are located in the neighborhood of previously identified QTL regions. The third method is the comparative approach, which utilizes loci where polymorphisms are known to have a phenotypic effect in one species and explores them as candidates for similar variation in other species (Zhang et al, 2012).…”

“…It assesses sequence variations, mainly single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), throughout the entire genome in conjunction with the phenotype and pedigree information to perform an association analysis and identify genes or regulatory elements that affect a desired trait (Zhang et al, 2012). The GWAS can be the first step in genomic selection studies and is becoming a popular tool in cattle breeding.…”

Retraction Note: progress of genome wide association study in domestic animals

“…“Progress of genome wide association study in domestic animals” published in Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology 2012 (3:26) [1], is regretfully retracted by the authors due to substantial textual overlap with previously published sources. We apologize to all affected parties for the inconvenience.…”

Associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms and carcass traits in Nellore cattle using high-density panels

“…GWAS have been used for the first time for the analysis of human diseases, and have become a suitable tool for domestic animals as a result of the development of large collections of SNPs and the large-scale analysis of SNPs at moderate cost (Zhang et al, 2012). The molecular data obtained in GWAS permit the genetic evaluation of young animals for traits of interest in livestock production, such as hot carcass weight (HCW), LEA, and BF.…”