Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38039, Turkey.
International Center for Livestock Research and Training, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ankara 06852, Turkey.
Genes (Basel). 2022 Nov 22;13(12):2177. doi: 10.3390/genes13122177.
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been used as an effective tool to understand the genetics of complex traits such as gastrointestinal parasite (GIP) resistance. The aim of this study was to understand the genetics of gastrointestinal parasite (nematodes, , ) resistance in Akkaraman sheep by performing genomic heritability estimations and conducting GWAS to uncover responsible genomic regions. This is one of the first studies to examine the genetic resistance of Akkaraman sheep to the tapeworm parasite. The samples from 475 animals were genotyped using the Axiom 50K Ovine Genotyping Array. Genomic heritability estimates ranged from 0.00 to 0.34 for parasite resistance traits. This indicates that measured phenotypes have low to moderate heritability estimates. A total of two genome-wide significant SNP associated with and genes and 10 chromosome-wide significant SNPs related with 10 genes namely , , , , , , , , , and were suggested as candidates for parasite resistance traits. The majority of these candidate genes were involved in several basic biological processes that are essential and important for immune system functions and cellular growth; specifically, inflammatory responses, cellular transport, cell apoptosis, cell differentiation, histone de-acetylation, and endocytosis. These results have implications for animal breeding program studies due to the effect that the genetic background has on parasite resistance, which underlies many productive, health, and wellness-related traits.
全基因组关联研究（GWAS）已被用作理解复杂特征（如胃肠道寄生虫（GIP）抗性）遗传学的有效工具。本研究旨在通过进行基因组遗传力估计和进行 GWAS 来揭示负责的基因组区域，以了解 Akkaraman 绵羊对胃肠道寄生虫（线虫、、）抗性的遗传学。这是首次研究 Akkaraman 绵羊对绦虫寄生虫遗传抗性的研究之一。对来自 475 只动物的样本进行了基因组分型，使用了 Axiom 50K 绵羊基因分型阵列。寄生虫抗性特征的基因组遗传力估计值范围从 0.00 到 0.34。这表明所测量的表型具有低至中度的遗传力估计值。总共发现了两个与 和 基因相关的全基因组显著 SNP，以及 10 个与 10 个基因相关的染色体全基因组显著 SNP，这些基因包括 、、、、、、、、和 ，被认为是寄生虫抗性特征的候选基因。这些候选基因中的大多数涉及到几个基本的生物学过程，这些过程对于免疫系统功能和细胞生长至关重要；具体而言，炎症反应、细胞运输、细胞凋亡、细胞分化、组蛋白去乙酰化和内吞作用。由于遗传背景对寄生虫抗性的影响，这些结果对动物育种计划研究具有重要意义，因为寄生虫抗性是许多与生产性能、健康和福利相关的特征的基础。
