Genome-Wide Association Studies of Live Weight at First Breeding at Eight Months of Age and Pregnancy Status of Ewe Lambs

This study estimated genetic parameters and identified candidate genes associated with live weight, and the occurrence of pregnancy in 1327 Romney ewe lambs using genome-wide association studies. Phenotypic traits considered were the occurrence of pregnancy in ewe lambs and live weight at eight months of age. Genetic parameters were estimated, and genomic variation was assessed using 13,500 single-nucleotide polymorphic markers (SNPs). Ewe lamb live weight had medium genomic heritability and was positively genetically correlated with occurrence of pregnancy. This suggests that selection for heavier ewe lambs is possible and would likely improve the occurrence of pregnancy in ewe lambs. No SNPs were associated with the occurrence of pregnancy; however, three candidate genes were associated with ewe lamb live weight. Tenascin C (TNC), TNF superfamily member 8 (TNFSF8) and Collagen type XXVIII alpha 1 chain (COL28A1) are involved in extracellular matrix organization and regulation of cell fate in the immune system. TNC may be involved in ewe lamb growth, and therefore, could be of interest for selection of ewe lamb replacements. The association between ewe lamb live weight and TNFSF8 and COL28A1 is unclear. Further research is needed using a larger population to determine whether the genes identified can be used for genomic selection of replacement ewe lambs.

[1]  P. Kenyon,et al.  Breeding Ewe Lambs: An Australasian Perspective , 2022, Animals : an open access journal from MDPI.

[2]  A. Alsamman,et al.  Genome-wide analysis identified candidate variants and genes associated with heat stress adaptation in Egyptian sheep breeds , 2022, Frontiers in Genetics.

[3]  S. Ghovvati,et al.  A meta-analysis of the gap between pedigree-based and genomic heritability estimates for production traits in dairy cows , 2022, Livestock Science.

[4]  Fei Tian,et al.  Genetic Polymorphisms of IGF1 and IGF1R Genes and Their Effects on Growth Traits in Hulun Buir Sheep , 2022, Genes.

[5]  N. Shabir,et al.  Genome wide expression analysis of circular RNAs in mammary epithelial cells of cattle revealed difference in milk synthesis , 2022, PeerJ.

[6]  K. G. Tirumurugaan,et al.  Meta-analysis of performance and genetic parameter estimates for growth and body weight traits of sheep in the tropics , 2022, Small Ruminant Research.

[7]  Gary D Bader,et al.  The reactome pathway knowledgebase 2022 , 2021, Nucleic Acids Res..

[8]  H. Blair,et al.  Effect of Breeding Heavier Romney Ewe Lambs at Seven Months of Age on Lamb Production and Efficiency over Their First Three Breeding Seasons , 2021, Animals : an open access journal from MDPI.

[9]  V. Pedrosa,et al.  Meta-analysis of genetic parameters for economic traits in sheep , 2021 .

[10]  P. Tozer,et al.  Determining the Impact of Hogget Breeding Performance on Profitability under a Fixed Feed Supply Scenario in New Zealand , 2021, Animals : an open access journal from MDPI.

[11]  H. Blair,et al.  The Effect of Age of Dam and Birth Rank on the Reproductive Performance of Ewes as One- and Two-Year-Olds , 2021, Animals : an open access journal from MDPI.

[12]  M. Moradi,et al.  Genome-wide association study for postweaning weight traits in Lori-Bakhtiari sheep , 2021, Tropical Animal Health and Production.

[13]  Anushya Muruganujan,et al.  PANTHER version 16: a revised family classification, tree-based classification tool, enhancer regions and extensive API , 2020, Nucleic Acids Res..

[14]  Huitong Zhou,et al.  Nucleotide Sequence Variation in the Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 Gene Affects Growth and Carcass Traits in New Zealand Romney Sheep , 2020, DNA and cell biology.

[15]  H. Blair,et al.  Effects of heavier live weight of ewe lambs at mating on fertility, lambing percentage, subsequent live weight and the performance of their progeny , 2020, New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research.

[16]  C. Mirth,et al.  The development of body and organ shape , 2020 .

[17]  C. Legay,et al.  Collagens at the vertebrate neuromuscular junction, from structure to pathologies , 2020, Neuroscience Letters.

[18]  J. MacLeod,et al.  Tenascin-C expression controls the maturation of articular cartilage in mice , 2020, BMC Research Notes.

[19]  A. Ridler,et al.  Differences in lamb production between ewe lambs and mature ewes , 2020 .

[20]  S. Vijayaraghavan,et al.  YWHA (14-3-3) protein isoforms and their interactions with CDC25B phosphatase in mouse oogenesis and oocyte maturation , 2019, BMC Developmental Biology.

[21]  V. Negrón-Pérez,et al.  Effects of sex on response of the bovine preimplantation embryo to insulin-like growth factor 1, activin A, and WNT7A , 2018, BMC Developmental Biology.

[22]  T. Stout,et al.  Amino acid transporter expression in the endometrium and conceptus membranes during early equine pregnancy. , 2018, Reproduction, fertility, and development.

[23]  M. Niu,et al.  Effects of prenatal hypoxia on fetal sheep heart development and proteomics analysis. , 2018, International journal of clinical and experimental pathology.

[24]  K. Griffithsa,et al.  Differences in birth weight and neonatal survival rate of lambs born to ewe hoggets or mature ewes. , 2018 .

[25]  J. Elsen,et al.  Using a very low-density SNP panel for genomic selection in a breeding program for sheep , 2017, Genetics Selection Evolution.

[26]  Song Xu,et al.  Recent advances in understanding genetic variants associated with economically important traits in sheep ( Ovis aries ) revealed by high-throughput screening technologies , 2017 .

[27]  Stephen P. Miller,et al.  Prediction of genomic breeding values for growth, carcass and meat quality traits in a multi-breed sheep population using a HD SNP chip , 2017, BMC Genetics.

[28]  Nancy D. Marin,et al.  The role of CD30 and CD153 (CD30L) in the anti-mycobacterial immune response. , 2017, Tuberculosis.

[29]  A. Reverter,et al.  Polymorphisms and genes associated with puberty in heifers. , 2016, Theriogenology.

[30]  C. Frampton,et al.  Association between variation in faecal egg count for a natural mixed field-challenge of nematode parasites and TLR4 variation. , 2016, Veterinary parasitology.

[31]  M. Paulsson,et al.  Structure, evolution and expression of collagen XXVIII: Lessons from the zebrafish. , 2016, Matrix biology : journal of the International Society for Matrix Biology.

[32]  Thomas Lecuit,et al.  Mechanical Forces and Growth in Animal Tissues. , 2016, Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology.

[33]  Heebal Kim,et al.  Heritability Estimated Using 50K SNPs Indicates Missing Heritability Problem in Holstein Breeding , 2015, Genomics & informatics.

[34]  J. McEwan,et al.  Genomic prediction of breeding values in the New Zealand sheep industry using a 50K SNP chip. , 2014, Journal of animal science.

[35]  T. Spencer,et al.  Amino Acids in the Uterine Luminal Fluid Reflects the Temporal Changes in Transporter Expression in the Endometrium and Conceptus during Early Pregnancy in Cattle , 2014, PloS one.

[36]  P. Kenyon,et al.  Breeding ewe lambs successfully to improve lifetime performance , 2014 .

[37]  S. Vijayaraghavan,et al.  Expression of 14-3-3 protein isoforms in mouse oocytes, eggs and ovarian follicular development , 2012, BMC Research Notes.

[38]  Frank Jülicher,et al.  Understanding morphogenetic growth control — lessons from flies , 2011, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.

[39]  C. Klein,et al.  Transcriptional Profiling of Equine Conceptuses Reveals New Aspects of Embryo-Maternal Communication in the Horse1 , 2011, Biology of reproduction.

[40]  P. Visscher,et al.  GCTA: a tool for genome-wide complex trait analysis. , 2011, American journal of human genetics.

[41]  F. Seefried,et al.  Impacts of both reference population size and inclusion of a residual polygenic effect on the accuracy of genomic prediction , 2011, Genetics Selection Evolution.

[42]  Judy H. Cho,et al.  Finding the missing heritability of complex diseases , 2009, Nature.

[43]  Guoyao Wu,et al.  Select Nutrients in the Ovine Uterine Lumen. IV. Expression of Neutral and Acidic Amino Acid Transporters in Ovine Uteri and Peri-Implantation Conceptuses1 , 2009, Biology of reproduction.

[44]  J. McEwan.  Current and future impact of DNA technologies on the New Zealand sheep industry , 2009 .

[45]  Huaiyu Mi,et al.  PANTHER pathway: an ontology-based pathway database coupled with data analysis tools. , 2009, Methods in molecular biology.

[46]  J. Schittny,et al.  Mechano-regulated Tenascin-C orchestrates muscle repair , 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[47]  Konrad Basler,et al.  Model for the regulation of size in the wing imaginal disc of Drosophila , 2007, Mechanisms of Development.

[48]  M. Schachner,et al.  Enhanced novelty‐induced activity, reduced anxiety, delayed resynchronization to daylight reversal and weaker muscle strength in tenascin‐C‐deficient mice , 2006, The European journal of neuroscience.

[49]  J. Schwarzbauer,et al.  Meet the Tenascins: Multifunctional and Mysterious* , 2005, Journal of Biological Chemistry.

[50]  N. Fogarty,et al.  A review of genetic parameter estimates for wool, growth, meat and reproduction traits in sheep , 2005 .

[51]  B. Shraiman,et al.  Mechanical feedback as a possible regulator of tissue growth. , 2005, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[52]  E. Lander,et al.  Genetic dissection of complex traits: guidelines for interpreting and reporting linkage results , 1995, Nature Genetics.

[53]  D. Notter,et al.  Heritabilities and genetic correlations of body weight, testis growth and ewe lamb reproductive traits in crossbred sheep , 1995 .

[54]  J. Kinder,et al.  Endocrine regulation of puberty in cows and ewes. , 2019, Journal of reproduction and fertility. Supplement.