Genome-Wide Association Study on Reproduction-Related Body-Shape Traits of Chinese Holstein Cows

• Main Authors: Xubin Lu, Ismail Mohamed Abdalla, Mudasir Nazar, Yongliang Fan, Zhipeng Zhang, Xinyue Wu, Tianle Xu, Zhangping Yang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
• Series: Animals
• Subjects: reproduction; body-shape traits; GWAS; SNP; Chinese Holstein; cows
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/7/1927

Reproduction is an important production activity for dairy cows, and their reproductive performance can directly affect the level of farmers’ income. To better understand the genomic regions and biological pathways of reproduction-related traits of dairy cows, in the present study, three body shape traits—Loin Strength (LS), Rump Angle (RA), and Pin Width (PW)—were selected as indicators of the reproductive ability of cows, and we conducted genome-wide association analyses on them. The heritability of these three traits was medium, ranging from 0.20 to 0.38. A total of 11 significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected associated with these three traits. Bioinformatics analysis was performed on genes close to the significant SNPs (within 200 Kb) of LS, RA, and PW, and we found that these genes were totally enriched in 20 gene ontology terms and six KEGG signaling pathways. Finally, the five genes <i>CDH12</i>, <i>TARP</i>, <i>PCDH9</i>, <i>DTHD1</i>, and <i>ARAP2</i> were selected as candidate genes that might affect LS. The six genes <i>LOC781835</i>, <i>FSTL4</i>, <i>ATG4C</i>, <i>SH3BP4</i>, <i>DMP1</i>, and <i>DSPP</i> were selected as candidate genes that might affect RA. The five genes <i>USP6NL</i>, <i>CNTN3</i>, <i>LOC101907665</i>, <i>UPF2</i>, and <i>ECHDC3</i> were selected as candidate genes that might affect the PW of Chinese Holstein cows. Our results could provide useful biological information for the improvement of body shape traits and contribute to the genomic selection of Chinese Holstein cows.