State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition; Key Laboratory of Animal (Poultry) Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
Farm Animal Genetic Resources Exploration and Innovation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, 613000, China.
Genet Sel Evol. 2021 Dec 20;53(1):98. doi: 10.1186/s12711-021-00684-5.
As a major economic trait in poultry, egg production efficiency attracts widespread interest in breeding and production. However, limited information is available about the underlying genetic architecture of egg production traits in ducks. In this paper, we analyzed six egg production-related traits in 352 F ducks derived from reciprocal crosses between mallard and Pekin ducks.
Feed conversation ratio (FCR) was positively correlated with feed intake but negatively correlated with egg-related traits, including egg weight and egg production, both phenotypically and genetically. Estimates of pedigree-based heritability were higher than 0.2 for all traits investigated, except hip-width. Based on whole-genome sequencing data, we conducted genome-wide association studies to identify genomic regions associated with these traits. In total, 11 genomic regions were associated with FCR. No genomic regions were identified as significantly associated with hip-width, total feed intake, average daily feed intake, and total egg production. Analysis of selective sweeps between mallard and Pekin ducks confirmed three of these genomic regions on chromosomes 13, 3 and 6. Within these three regions, variants in candidate genes that were in linkage disequilibrium with the GWAS leader single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (Chr13:2,196,728, P = 7.05 × 10; Chr3:76,991,524, P = 1.06 × 10; Chr6:20,356,803, P = 1.14 × 10) were detected. Thus, we identified 31 potential candidate genes associated with FCR, among which the strongest candidates are those that are highly expressed in tissues involved in reproduction and nervous system functions of ducks: CNTN4, CRBR, GPR63, KLHL32, FHL5, TRNT1, MANEA, NDUFAF4, and SCD.
For the first time, we report the identification of genomic regions that are associated with FCR in ducks and our results illustrate the genomic changes that occurred during their domestication and are involved in egg production efficiency.
产蛋效率是家禽的一个主要经济性状，在养殖和生产中受到广泛关注。然而，关于鸭产蛋相关性状的潜在遗传结构，信息有限。在本文中，我们分析了 352 只由野鸭和北京鸭正反交产生的 F 代鸭的 6 个产蛋相关性状。
饲料转化率（FCR）与饲料摄入量呈正相关，但与蛋重和产蛋量等与蛋相关的性状呈负相关，表型和遗传上均如此。除臀宽外，所有研究性状的基于系谱的遗传力估计值均高于 0.2。基于全基因组测序数据，我们进行了全基因组关联研究，以鉴定与这些性状相关的基因组区域。总共鉴定到 11 个与 FCR 相关的基因组区域。没有鉴定到与臀宽、总饲料摄入量、平均日采食量和总产蛋量显著相关的基因组区域。对野鸭和北京鸭之间选择压的分析证实了这三个基因组区域位于第 13、3 和 6 号染色体上。在这三个区域内，与 GWAS 主导单核苷酸多态性（SNP）连锁不平衡的候选基因中的变异（Chr13:2,196,728，P=7.05×10；Chr3:76,991,524，P=1.06×10；Chr6:20,356,803，P=1.14×10）被检测到。因此，我们鉴定出 31 个与 FCR 相关的潜在候选基因，其中表达丰度最高的候选基因为那些在鸭子的生殖组织和神经系统中高度表达的基因：CNTN4、CRBR、GPR63、KLHL32、FHL5、TRNT1、MANEA、NDUFAF4 和 SCD。
这是首次报道鉴定出与鸭 FCR 相关的基因组区域，我们的结果说明了在鸭的驯化过程中发生的与产蛋效率相关的基因组变化。
