Selection signatures in goats reveal copy number variants underlying breed-defining coat color phenotypes.

ABSTRACT: Domestication and human selection have formed diverse goat breeds with characteristic phenotypes. This process correlated with the fixation of causative genetic variants controlling breed-specific traits within regions of reduced genetic diversity, so called selection signatures or selective sweeps. Using whole genome sequencing of DNA pools (pool-seq) from 20 genetically diverse modern goat breeds and bezoars, we identified 2,239 putative selection signatures. In two Pakistani goat breeds, Pak Angora and Barbari, we found selection signatures in a region harboring KIT, a gene involved in melanoblast development, migration, and survival. The search for candidate causative variants responsible for these selective sweeps revealed two different copy number variants (CNVs) downstream of KIT th

SUBMITTER: Henkel J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6936872 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature