Genome-wide association study for birth weight Brazilian Nellore cattle (Bos primigenuis indicus) points to previously described orthologous genes affecting human and bovine height

Authors: UTSUNOMIYA, YURI - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); CARMO, ADRIANA - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); CARVALHEIRO, ROBERTO - Gensys Consultores Associados; NEVES, HAROLDO - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); MATOS, MARCIA - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); ZAVAREZ, LUDMILLA - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); O'BRIEN, ANA - University Of Natural Resources & Applied Life Sciences - Austria; SOLKNER, JOHANN - University Of Natural Resources & Applied Life Sciences - Austria; MCEWAN, JOHN - Agresearch; Cole, John; Van Tassell, Curtis - Curt; SCHENKEL, FLAVIO - University Of Guelph; SILVA, MARCOS - Embrapa; PORTO NETO, LAERCIO - University Of Queensland; Sonstegard, Tad; GARCIA, JOSE - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)

Submitted to: BioMed Central (BMC) Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/5/2013
Publication Date: 6/13/2013
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/57013
Citation: Utsunomiya, Y.T., Carmo, A.S., Carvalheiro, R., Neves, H.H., Matos, M.C., Zavarez, L.B., O'Brien, A.M., Solkner, J., Mcewan, J., Cole, J.B., Van Tassell, C.P., Schenkel, F.S., Silva, M.V., Porto Neto, L., Sonstegard, T.S., Garcia, J.F. 2013. Genome-wide association study for birth weight Brazilian Nellore cattle (Bos primigenuis indicus) points to previously described orthologous genes affecting human and bovine height. BioMed Central (BMC) Genetics. 13:14-52.

Interpretive Summary: Birth weight is an economically important trait in beef cattle that is often associated with the physical size and shape of the animal as an adult. Previous studies have found that there are genes located on cattle chromosome 14 in European cattle that are similar to genes that affect height in humans. A genome-wide association analysis of birth weight was performed in Brazilian Nellore cattle, a breed adapted to tropical and subtropical climates. The genetic marker explaining the largest proportion of variation in birth weight is located in the region of chromosome 14 previously shown to affect the size and shape of cattle. These results suggest that the genes on chromosome 14 control biological processes that are common to all cattle, or that genes from European cattle have been bred into the Nellore population.

Technical Abstract: Birth weight (BW) is an economically important trait in beef cattle, and is associated with growth- and stature-related traits. One region of the cattle genome, located on bovine autosome (BTA) 14, has been previously shown to be associated with stature by multiple independent studies, and contains orthologous genes affecting human height. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) for BW in Brazilian Nellore cattle (Bos primigenius indicus) was performed using estimated breeding values (EBVs) of 654 progeny-tested bulls genotyped for over 777,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The most significant SNP (rs133012258, PGC = 1.34 x 10-9), located at BTA14:25376827, explained 4.62% of the variance in BW EBVs. The surrounding 1 Mb region presented high identity with human, pig and mouse autosomes 8, 4 and 4, respectively, and contains the orthologous height genes PLAG1, CHCHD7, MOS, RPS20, LYN, RDHE2 (SDR16C5) and PENK. The region also overlapped 28 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) previously reported in literature by linkage mapping studies in cattle, including QTLs for birth weight, mature height, carcass weight, stature, pre-weaning average daily gain, calving ease, and gestation length. This study presents the first GWAS applying a high-density SNP panel to identify putative chromosome regions affecting birth weight in Nellore cattle. These results suggest that the QTLs on BTA14 associated with body size in taurine cattle (Bos primigenius taurus) also affect birth weight and size in zebu cattle (Bos primigenius indicus).