QTL mapping for sexually dimorphic fitness-related traits in wild bighorn sheep.

ABSTRACT: Dissecting the genetic architecture of fitness-related traits in wild populations is key to understanding evolution and the mechanisms maintaining adaptive genetic variation. We took advantage of a recently developed genetic linkage map and phenotypic information from wild pedigreed individuals from Ram Mountain, Alberta, Canada, to study the genetic architecture of ecologically important traits (horn volume, length, base circumference and body mass) in bighorn sheep. In addition to estimating sex-specific and cross-sex quantitative genetic parameters, we tested for the presence of quantitative trait loci (QTLs), colocalization of QTLs between bighorn sheep and domestic sheep, and sex × QTL interactions. All traits showed significant additive genetic variance and genetic correlations tende

SUBMITTER: Poissant J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3282393 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature