Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science and Technology, National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center of Animal Science, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction (Poultry) of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
Anim Genet. 2022 Dec;53(6):897-900. doi: 10.1111/age.13265. Epub 2022 Sep 9.
Tail type is an important trait that influences meat quality and consumer purchasing attitudes. As a novel genetic marker, the study of genomic copy number variations (CNVs) provides a new research method to study the genetic mechanisms underlying trait formation. In the present paper, we conducted CNV-based association studies for sheep tail type and growth traits in Hulunbuir sheep. A total of 167 CNVs and 288 individuals were analyzed at the marker and individual level, respectively. Association studies of 10 traits were carried out using two mixed linear models. We found that three, one and one CNV loci were significantly associated with tail type, tail length and tail fat weight, respectively, which together contained a total of 52 candidate genes. Out of these genes, five have been documented to be associated with fat metabolism in sheep. Our findings provide a reference for further studies on fat deposition in sheep as well as a theoretical basis for breeding Hulunbuir sheep with the required tail type.
尾巴类型是影响肉质和消费者购买态度的一个重要特征。作为一种新的遗传标记，基因组拷贝数变异（CNVs）的研究为研究性状形成的遗传机制提供了一种新的研究方法。在本研究中，我们对呼伦贝尔羊的尾巴类型和生长性状进行了基于 CNV 的关联研究。在标记和个体水平上，分别对 167 个 CNV 和 288 个个体进行了分析。使用两种混合线性模型对 10 个性状进行了关联研究。我们发现三个、一个和一个 CNV 位点分别与尾巴类型、尾巴长度和尾巴脂肪重量显著相关，这三个位点共包含 52 个候选基因。其中 5 个基因已被证明与绵羊的脂肪代谢有关。本研究结果为进一步研究绵羊脂肪沉积提供了参考，为培育具有所需尾巴类型的呼伦贝尔羊提供了理论依据。
