Population Genetic Structure, Historical Effective Population Size, and Dairy Trait Selection Signatures in Chinese Red Steppe and Holstein Cattle.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Chinese Red Steppe cattle (CRS) combine indigenous environmental resilience with moderate dairy performance, whereas Holstein cattle (HOL), despite their high milk yield, suffer reduced genetic diversity and compromised adaptation. A comparative analysis of their population genetic architecture and selection signatures can reveal valuable targets for CRS dairy improvement.

Methods

We genotyped 61 CRS and 392 HOL individuals using the Illumina GGP Bovine 100K SNP array and performed stringent quality control. Population structure was assessed via principal component analysis, neighbor-joining trees, and sparse nonnegative matrix factorization. Historical effective population size (Ne) and divergence time were inferred with SMC++. Genome-wide selection scans combine

SUBMITTER: Niu P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12427281 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature