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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Animal Disease Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #400762
Research Project: Identification of Host Factors and Immunopathogenesis of Pneumonia in Domestic and Bighorn Sheep

Location: Animal Disease Research Unit

Title: Genome-wide scan of wool production traits in Akkaraman sheep

Author
item ARZIK, YUNUS - Erciyes University
item KIZILASLAN, MEHMET - Erciyes University
item BEHREM, SEDAT - Aksaray University
item WHITE, STEPHEN - Former ARS Employee
item Piel, Lindsay
item CINAR, MEHMET - Erciyes University

Submitted to: Genes
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/10/2023
Publication Date: 3/14/2023
Citation: Arzik, Y., Kizilaslan, M., Behrem, S., White, S.N., Piel, L.M., Cinar, M.U. 2023. Genome-wide scan of wool production traits in Akkaraman sheep. Genes. 14(3). Article 713. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14030713.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14030713

Interpretive Summary: Genome-wide association studies can help determine genetic regions that are associated with traits of interest. Within the agricultural field, traits include weight gain, wool qualities, milk production, health, and environmental hardiness. This study focused on assessing the genetic regions which are associated with good wool quality, including measuring the fiber diameter, length, and weight. Plausible candidate genetic regions were identified and can be further explored in future assays to determine if selective breeding measures are available to increase wool production and quality.

Technical Abstract: The objective of this study was to uncover the genetic background of wool quality, a production trait, by estimating genomic heritability and implementing GWAS in Akkaraman sheep. Wool characteristics measured included fibre diameter (FD) and staple length (SL) at the age of 8 months and yearling fibre diameter (YFD), yearling staple length (YSL) and yearling greasy fleece weight (YGFW) at 18 months of age. Animals were genotyped using the Axiom 50K Ovine Genotyping Array. Maximum likelihood estimations of a linear mixed model (LMM) were used to estimate genomic heritability, where GWAS was conducted following score test of each trait. Genomic heritability estimates for the traits ranged between 0.22 and 0.63, indicating that phenotypes have a moderate range of heritability. One genome- and six chromosome-wide significant SNPs were associated with the wool traits in Akkaraman lambs. Accordingly, TRIM2, MND1, TLR2, RNF175, CEP290, TMTC3, RERE, SLC45A1, SOX2, MORN1, SKI, FAAP20, PRKCZ, GABRD, CFAP74, CALML6 and TMEM52 genes as well as nine uncharacterized regions (LOC101118971, LOC105609137, LOC105603067, LOC101122892, LOC106991694, LOC106991467, LOC106991455, LOC105616534, LOC105609719) were defined as plausible candidates. The findings of this study shed light on the genetics of wool quality and yield for the Akkaraman breed and suggests targets for breeders during systematic breeding programmes.