Genome-wide scans for signatures of selection in North African sheep reveals differentially selected regions between fat- and thin-tailed breeds.

ABSTRACT: North Africa counts several sheep breeds that can be categorized as fat- and thin-tailed. The former are well adapted to dryland environments. In this study, we used 50K genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism profiles from 462 animals representing nine fat-tailed and 13 thin-tailed sheep breeds across North Africa to localize genomic regions putatively under differential selective pressures between the two types of breeds. We observed genetic clines from east to west and from north to south. The east-west cline separates the fat- and thin-tailed breeds, with the exception of the fat-tailed Algerian Barbarine, which is closely related to a genetically homogeneous cluster of Moroccan and Algerian thin-tailed breeds. Using a combination of three extended haplotype homozygosity tests, we d

SUBMITTER: Ben-Jemaa S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11653233 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature