A quasi-exclusive European ancestry in the Senepol tropical cattle breed highlights the importance of the slick locus in tropical adaptation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Senepol cattle breed (SEN) was created in the early XX(th) century from a presumed cross between a European (EUT) breed (Red Poll) and a West African taurine (AFT) breed (N'Dama). Well adapted to tropical conditions, it is also believed trypanotolerant according to its putative AFT ancestry. However, such origins needed to be verified to define relevant husbandry practices and the genetic background underlying such adaptation needed to be characterized.

Methodology/principal findings

We genotyped 153 SEN individuals on 47,365 SNPs and combined the resulting data with those available on 18 other populations representative of EUT, AFT and Zebu (ZEB) cattle. We found on average 89% EUT, 10.4% ZEB and 0.6% AFT ancestries in the SEN genome. We further looked for fo

SUBMITTER: Flori L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3366548 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature