Integration of a single-step genome-wide association study with a multi-tissue transcriptome analysis provides novel insights into the genetic basis of wool and weight traits in sheep.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Genetic improvement of wool and growth traits is a major goal in the sheep industry, but their underlying genetic architecture remains elusive. To improve our understanding of these mechanisms, we conducted a weighted single-step genome-wide association study (WssGWAS) and then integrated the results with large-scale transcriptome data for five wool traits and one growth trait in Merino sheep: mean fibre diameter (MFD), coefficient of variation of the fibre diameter (CVFD), crimp number (CN), mean staple length (MSL), greasy fleece weight (GFW), and live weight (LW).

Results

Our dataset comprised 7135 individuals with phenotype data, among which 1217 had high-density (HD) genotype data (n = 372,534). The genotypes of 707 of these animals were imputed from the Illu

SUBMITTER: Zhao B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8247193 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature