scholarly journals Accounting for Population Structure and Phenotypes From Relatives in Association Mapping for Farm Animals: A Simulation Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Mancin ◽  
Daniela Lourenco ◽  
Matias Bermann ◽  
Roberto Mantovani ◽  
Ignacy Misztal
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Dairy Cattle ◽  
Genetic Relatedness ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Single Step ◽  
Structured Populations ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Snp Analysis ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies

Population structure or genetic relatedness should be considered in genome association studies to avoid spurious association. The most used methods for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) account for population structure but are limited to genotyped individuals with phenotypes. Single-step GWAS (ssGWAS) can use phenotypes from non-genotyped relatives; however, its ability to account for population structure has not been explored. Here we investigate the equivalence among ssGWAS, efficient mixed-model association expedited (EMMAX), and genomic best linear unbiased prediction GWAS (GBLUP-GWAS), and how they differ from the single-SNP analysis without correction for population structure (SSA-NoCor). We used simulated, structured populations that mimicked fish, beef cattle, and dairy cattle populations with 1040, 5525, and 1,400 genotyped individuals, respectively. Larger populations were also simulated that had up to 10-fold more genotyped animals. The genomes were composed by 29 chromosomes, each harboring one QTN, and the number of simulated SNPs was 35,000 for the fish and 65,000 for the beef and dairy cattle populations. Males and females were genotyped in the fish and beef cattle populations, whereas only males had genotypes in the dairy population. Phenotypes for a trait with heritability varying from 0.25 to 0.35 were available in both sexes for the fish population, but only for females in the beef and dairy cattle populations. In the latter, phenotypes of daughters were projected into genotyped sires (i.e., deregressed proofs) before applying EMMAX and SSA-NoCor. Although SSA-NoCor had the largest number of true positive SNPs among the four methods, the number of false negatives was two–fivefold that of true positives. GBLUP-GWAS and EMMAX had a similar number of true positives, which was slightly smaller than in ssGWAS, although the difference was not significant. Additionally, no significant differences were observed when deregressed proofs were used as pseudo-phenotypes in EMMAX compared to daughter phenotypes in ssGWAS for the dairy cattle population. Single-step GWAS accounts for population structure and is a straightforward method for association analysis when only a fraction of the population is genotyped and/or when phenotypes are available on non-genotyped relatives.

scholarly journals Climate-Resilient Dairy Cattle Production: Applications of Genomic Tools and Statistical Models

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mullakkalparambil Velayudhan Silpa ◽  
Sven König ◽  
Veerasamy Sejian ◽  
Pradeep Kumar Malik ◽  
Mini Ravi Reshma Nair ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cattle ◽  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Milk Production ◽  
Statistical Models ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Environment Interaction ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Climate Trend ◽  
Genomic Tools

The current changing climate trend poses a threat to the productive efficacy and welfare of livestock across the globe. This review is an attempt to synthesize information pertaining to the applications of various genomic tools and statistical models that are available to identify climate-resilient dairy cows. The different functional and economical traits which govern milk production play a significant role in determining the cost of milk production. Thus, identification of these traits may revolutionize the breeding programs to develop climate-resilient dairy cattle. Moreover, the genotype–environment interaction also influences the performance of dairy cattle especially during a challenging situation. The recent advancement in molecular biology has led to the development of a few biotechnological tools and statistical models like next-generation sequencing (NGS), microarray technology, whole transcriptome analysis, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) which can be used to quantify the molecular mechanisms which govern the climate resilience capacity of dairy cows. Among these, the most preferred option for researchers around the globe was GWAS as this approach jointly takes into account all the genotype, phenotype, and pedigree information of farm animals. Furthermore, selection signatures can also help to demarcate functionally important regions in the genome which can be used to detect potential loci and candidate genes that have undergone positive selection in complex milk production traits of dairy cattle. These identified biomarkers can be incorporated in the existing breeding policies using genomic selection to develop climate-resilient dairy cattle.

scholarly journals 10 Can single-step genome-wide association analysis (ssGWAA) account for population structure?

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. 9-10
Author(s):  
Enrico Mancin
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Dairy Cattle ◽  
Association Analysis ◽  
Single Step ◽  
Genome Wide Association ◽  
Relationship Matrix ◽  
Cattle Population ◽  
Genome Wide Association Analysis ◽  
Genome Wide

Abstract Several methods are available for genome-wide association analysis, including the classical GWAA (cGWAA) based on fixed, single-SNP regression; efficient mixed-model association expedited (EMMAX) that fits single-SNP regressions together with a relationship matrix to account for population structure; and single-step GWAA (ssGWAA) where all data, including non-genotyped animals, are used. The objectives of this study were to: 1) investigate the ability of ssGWAA to account for population structure and correctly identify quantitative trait nucleotides (QTN); and 2) compare ssGWAA with cGWAA and EMMAX. Three simulated datasets were used, which mimic fish, beef cattle, and dairy cattle populations. The fish population was composed of 2,040 fish, out of which 1,040 were genotyped and had phenotypes for a trait with heritability of 0.25. The beef cattle population had 6,010 animals in the pedigree, but only 1,500 with phenotypes (h2 = 0.35) and genotypes. Lastly, the dairy cattle population had 40,800 pedigreed animals, of which 20,000 females had phenotypes (h2 = 0.32) and 2,400 males were genotyped. All phenotypes, pedigree, and genotypes were used in ssGWAA, whereas only genotypes and phenotypes were used in cGWAA and EMMAX for the fish and beef cattle analyses. For the dairy cattle analysis using the last two methods, deregressed proofs had to be used instead of phenotypes. The ability to correctly identify QTN and the number of statistically significant SNP (P < 0.05/number of SNP) was assessed among methods. In all populations, cGWAA was able to identify some of the strongest QTN but showed a large number of false positives. EMMAX and ssGWAA did not show false associations and correctly identified the top QTN, with more signals observed in ssGWAA. The ssGWAA accounts for population structure and is a proper association method, especially for livestock populations where sparse genotyping is a reality and phenotypes may not be recorded in genotyped animals.

scholarly journals Genomic Analysis, Progress and Future Perspectives in Dairy Cattle Selection: A Review

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 599
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Gutierrez-Reinoso ◽  
Pedro M. Aponte ◽  
Manuel Garcia-Herreros
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cattle ◽  
Production Efficiency ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Progeny Testing ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Genetic Progress ◽  
Breeding Programs ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Selection Of

Genomics comprises a set of current and valuable technologies implemented as selection tools in dairy cattle commercial breeding programs. The intensive progeny testing for production and reproductive traits based on genomic breeding values (GEBVs) has been crucial to increasing dairy cattle productivity. The knowledge of key genes and haplotypes, including their regulation mechanisms, as markers for productivity traits, may improve the strategies on the present and future for dairy cattle selection. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) such as quantitative trait loci (QTL), single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), or single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction (ssGBLUP) methods have already been included in global dairy programs for the estimation of marker-assisted selection-derived effects. The increase in genetic progress based on genomic predicting accuracy has also contributed to the understanding of genetic effects in dairy cattle offspring. However, the crossing within inbred-lines critically increased homozygosis with accumulated negative effects of inbreeding like a decline in reproductive performance. Thus, inaccurate-biased estimations based on empirical-conventional models of dairy production systems face an increased risk of providing suboptimal results derived from errors in the selection of candidates of high genetic merit-based just on low-heritability phenotypic traits. This extends the generation intervals and increases costs due to the significant reduction of genetic gains. The remarkable progress of genomic prediction increases the accurate selection of superior candidates. The scope of the present review is to summarize and discuss the advances and challenges of genomic tools for dairy cattle selection for optimizing breeding programs and controlling negative inbreeding depression effects on productivity and consequently, achieving economic-effective advances in food production efficiency. Particular attention is given to the potential genomic selection-derived results to facilitate precision management on modern dairy farms, including an overview of novel genome editing methodologies as perspectives toward the future.

scholarly journals Genetic Basis of Mastitis Resistance in Dairy Cattle – A Review / Podstawy Genetyczne Odporności Krów Mlecznych Na Zapalenie Wymienia – Artykuł Przeglądowy

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 663-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grażyna Sender ◽  
Agnieszka Korwin-Kossakowska ◽  
Adrianna Pawlik ◽  
Karima Galal Abdel Hameed ◽  
Jolanta Oprządek
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cattle ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Genetic Resistance ◽  
Clinical Mastitis ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Candidate Gene Approach ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Polygenic Control ◽  
Breeding Programmes

Abstract Mastitis is one of the most important mammary gland diseases impacting lactating animals. Resistance to this disease could be improved by breeding. There are several selection methods for mastitis resistance. To improve the natural genetic resistance of cows in succeeding generations, current breeding programmes use somatic cell count and clinical mastitis cases as resistance traits. However, these methods of selection have met with limited success. This is partly due to the complex nature of the disease. The limited progress in improving udder health by conventional selection procedures requires applying information on molecular markers of mastitis susceptibility in marker-assisted selection schemes. Mastitis is under polygenic control, so there are many genes that control this trait in many loci. This review briefly describes genome-wide association studies which have been carried out to identify quantitative trait loci associated with mastitis resistance in dairy cattle worldwide. It also characterizes the candidate gene approach focus on identifying genes that are strong candidates for the mastitis resistance trait. In the conclusion of the paper we focus our attention on future research which should be conducted in the field of the resistance to mastitis.

scholarly journals Comorbidities and Susceptibility to COVID-19: A Generalized Gene Set Data Mining Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1666
Author(s):  
Micaela F. Beckman ◽  
Farah Bahrani Mougeot ◽  
Jean-Luc C. Mougeot
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Gene Interaction ◽  
Snp Analysis ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions ◽  
Data Mining Approach

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to over 2.26 million deaths for almost 104 million confirmed cases worldwide, as of 4 February 2021 (WHO). Risk factors include pre-existing conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Although several vaccines have been deployed, there are few alternative anti-viral treatments available in the case of reduced or non-existent vaccine protection. Adopting a long-term holistic approach to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic appears critical with the emergence of novel and more infectious SARS-CoV-2 variants. Our objective was to identify comorbidity-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), potentially conferring increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection using a computational meta-analysis approach. SNP datasets were downloaded from a publicly available genome-wide association studies (GWAS) catalog for 141 of 258 candidate COVID-19 comorbidities. Gene-level SNP analysis was performed to identify significant pathways by using the program MAGMA. An SNP annotation program was used to analyze MAGMA-identified genes. Differential gene expression was determined for significant genes across 30 general tissue types using the Functional and Annotation Mapping of GWAS online tool GENE2FUNC. COVID-19 comorbidities (n = 22) from six disease categories were found to have significant associated pathways, validated by Q–Q plots (p < 0.05). Protein–protein interactions of significant (p < 0.05) differentially expressed genes were visualized with the STRING program. Gene interaction networks were found to be relevant to SARS and influenza pathogenesis. In conclusion, we were able to identify the pathways potentially affected by or affecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in underlying medical conditions likely to confer susceptibility and/or the severity of COVID-19. Our findings have implications in future COVID-19 experimental research and treatment development.

scholarly journals Prioritization of genes associated with the pathogenesis of leukosis in cattle

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1063-1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. S. Yudin ◽  
N. L. Podkolodnyy ◽  
T. A. Agarkova ◽  
E. V. Ignatieva
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Genome Wide Association Study ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Genome Wide Association ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
A Genome

Selection by means of genetic markers is a promising approach to the eradication of infectious diseases in farm animals, especially in the absence of effective methods of treatment and prevention. Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is spread throughout the world and represents one of the biggest problems for the livestock production and food security in Russia. However, recent genome-wide association studies have shown that sensitivity/resistance to BLV is polygenic. The aim of this study was to create a catalog of cattle genes and genes of other mammalian species involved in the pathogenesis of BLV-induced infection and to perform gene prioritization using bioinformatics methods. Based on manually collected information from a range of open sources, a total of 446 genes were included in the catalog of cattle genes and genes of other mammals involved in the pathogenesis of BLV-induced infection. The following criteria were used to prioritize 446 genes from the catalog: (1) the gene is associated with leukemia according to a genome-wide association study; (2) the gene is associated with leukemia according to a case-control study; (3) the role of the gene in leukemia development has been studied using knockout mice; (4) protein-protein interactions exist between the gene-encoded protein and either viral particles or individual viral proteins; (5) the gene is annotated with Gene Ontology terms that are overrepresented for a given list of genes; (6) the gene participates in biological pathways from the KEGG or REACTOME databases, which are over-represented for a given list of genes; (7) the protein encoded by the gene has a high number of protein-protein interactions with proteins encoded by other genes from the catalog. Based on each criterion, a rank was assigned to each gene. Then the ranks were summarized and an overall rank was determined. Prioritization of 446 candidate genes allowed us to identify 5 genes of interest (TNF,LTB,BOLA-DQA1,BOLA-DRB3,ATF2), which can affect the sensitivity/resistance of cattle to leukemia.

Genome-wide association studies reveal novel loci associated with carcass and body measures in beef cattle

2020 ◽  
Vol 694 ◽  
pp. 108543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sayed Haidar Abbas Raza ◽  
Samiullah Khan ◽  
Motahareh Amjadi ◽  
Sameh A. Abdelnour ◽  
Hussien Ohran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Genome Wide Association ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Genome Wide

scholarly journals Confirmed effects of candidate variants for milk production, udder health, and udder morphology in dairy cattle

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thierry Tribout ◽  
Pascal Croiseau ◽  
Rachel Lefebvre ◽  
Anne Barbat ◽  
Mekki Boussaha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cattle ◽  
Candidate Genes ◽  
Milk Production ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Production Traits ◽  
Milk Production Traits ◽  
Udder Health ◽  
Gwas Approach

Abstract Background Over the last years, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) based on imputed whole-genome sequences (WGS) have been used to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) and highlight candidate genes for important traits. However, in general this approach does not allow to validate the effects of candidate mutations or determine if they are truly causative for the trait(s) in question. To address these questions, we applied a two-step, within-breed GWAS approach on 15 traits (5 linked with milk production, 2 with udder health, and 8 with udder morphology) in Montbéliarde (MON), Normande (NOR), and Holstein (HOL) cattle. We detected the most-promising candidate variants (CV) using imputed WGS of 2515 MON, 2203 NOR, and 6321 HOL bulls, and validated their effects in three younger populations of 23,926 MON, 9400 NOR, and 51,977 HOL cows. Results Bull sequence-based GWAS detected 84 QTL: 13, 10, and 30 for milk production traits; 3, 0, and 2 for somatic cell score (SCS); and 8, 2 and 16 for udder morphology traits, in MON, NOR, and HOL respectively. Five genomic regions with effects on milk production traits were shared among the three breeds whereas six (2 for production and 4 for udder morphology and health traits) had effects in two breeds. In 80 of these QTL, 855 CV were highlighted based on the significance of their effects and functional annotation. The subsequent GWAS on MON, NOR, and HOL cows validated 8, 9, and 23 QTL for production traits; 0, 0, and 1 for SCS; and 4, 1, and 8 for udder morphology traits, respectively. In 47 of the 54 confirmed QTL, the CV identified in bulls had more significant effects than single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the standard 50K chip. The best CV for each validated QTL was located in a gene that was functionally related to production (36 QTL) or udder (9 QTL) traits. Conclusions Using this two-step GWAS approach, we identified and validated 54 QTL that included CV mostly located within functional candidate genes and explained up to 6.3% (udder traits) and 37% (production traits) of the genetic variance of economically important dairy traits. These CV are now included in the chip used to evaluate French dairy cattle and can be integrated into routine genomic evaluation.

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