Association of Polymorphisms in Candidate Genes with the Litter Size in Two Sheep Breeds

Hu sheep and Small-tailed Han sheep are the most widely raised and most famous maternal sheep breeds in China, which are known for precocious puberty, perennial oestrus and high fecundity (1–6 lambs each parity). Therefore, it is crucial to increase litter size of these two breeds for intensive sheep industry. The objective of this study was to identify potential genetic markers linked with sheep litter size located at ten genes. This study collected blood sample of 537 Hu sheep and 420 Small-tailed Han sheep with litter size of first parity. The average litter sizes in Hu sheep and Small-tailed Han sheep were 2.21 and 1.93. DNA-pooling sequencing method was used for detecting the potential single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ten genes related to follicle development and female reproduction. SNPscan® was used for individually genotyping. As a result, a total of 78 putative SNPs in nine out of ten candidate genes (except NOG) were identified. In total, 50 SNPs were successfully genotyped in Hu sheep and Small-tailed Han sheep. After quality control, a total of 42 SNPs in Hu sheep and 44 SNPs in Small-tailed Han sheep were finally used for further analysis. Association analysis revealed that nine SNPs within six genes (KIT: g.70199073A>G, KITLG: g.124520653G>C, ADAMTS1: g.127753565T>C, ADAMTS1: g.127754640G>T, NCOA1: g.31928165C>T, NCOA1: g.32140565G>A, LIFR: g.35862868C>T, LIFR: g.35862947G>T and NGF: g.91795933T>C) were significantly associated with litter size in Hu sheep or Small-tailed Han sheep. A combined haplotypes analysis of the two loci (LIFR: g.35862868C>T and LIFR: g.35862947G>T) revealed that H2H3 (CTTT) combined haplotypes had the largest litter size than the rest combined haplotypes and more than those with either mutation alone in Small-tailed Han sheep. Taken together, our study suggests that nine significant SNPs in six genes can be served as useful genetic markers for MAS in sheep.

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Associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms of GDF9 and BMP15 genes and litter size in two dairy sheep breeds of Greece

Small Ruminant Research ◽

10.1016/j.smallrumres.2012.04.004 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 107 (1) ◽

pp. 16-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

E. Liandris ◽

A. Kominakis ◽

M. Andreadou ◽

K. Kapeoldassi ◽

S. Chadio ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Litter Size ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Dairy Sheep ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Sheep Breeds ◽

Of Greece

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Molecular Cloning of the B4GALNT2 Gene and Its Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Association with Litter Size in Small Tail Han Sheep

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani8100160 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (10) ◽

pp. 160 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Xiaofei Guo ◽

Xiangyu Wang ◽

Benmeng Liang ◽

Ran Di ◽

Qiuyue Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Litter Size ◽

Granule Cells ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Transcription Start Sites ◽

Sheep Breeds ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Tan Sheep ◽

Rapid Amplification

A new fecundity gene named the FecL (mutation), which regulates the ovulation rate, was discovered in French Lacaune sheep. The B4GALNT2 (beta-1, 4-N-acetyl-galactosaminyl transferase 2) gene was considered as the potential FecL mutation gene. This study explores whether the effect of the FecL mutation exists in other sheep breeds, and the features of the B4GALNT2 gene in terms of the molecular structure and its expression profile. Using Sanger sequencing, we found that high and low fecundity breeds from among 11 measured sheep breeds all had no variation in the three specific mutation sites, which were linked with the FecL mutation. However, two mutations of g.36946470C > T and g.36933082C > T in the exon of B4GALNT2 had a significant effect on litter size in the first parity for Small Tail Han (STH) Sheep (p < 0.05). Two transcription start sites (TSS) of B4GALNT2 in its 5′-flanking region were discovered in ovine granule cells in vitro, through the RACE (Rapid amplification of cDNA ends) method. Except for in the kidney and oviduct, no significant difference in expression levels had been found between STH sheep and Tan sheep breeds. The B4GALNT2 gene, as a candidate for FecL, may have a relationship with the differences in litter size in STH sheep. B4GALNT2 is mainly expressed in the ovine ovary, which also suggests that B4GALNT2 plays an important role in sheep reproduction.

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Mutations in NLRP5 and NLRP9 Are Associated with Litter Size in Small Tail Han Sheep

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani10040689 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 689 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Zhuangbiao Zhang ◽

Jishun Tang ◽

Xiaoyun He ◽

Ran Di ◽

Mingxing Chu

Keyword(s):

Genetic Analysis ◽

Litter Size ◽

Population Genetic ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Population Genetic Analysis ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Sheep Breeds ◽

Reproductive Genes ◽

Pyrin Domain ◽

Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium

Previous studies showed that the NLR family pyrin domain-containing 5 (NLRP5) and NLRP9 genes are two important reproductive genes; however, their effects on sheep litter size are unknown. Therefore, in this study, we first genotyped seven sheep breeds via the MassARRAY® SNP system at the loci g.60495375A > G, g.60495363G > A, and g.60499690C > A in NLRP5, and g.59030623T > C and g.59043397A > C in NLRP9. Our results revealed that each locus in most sheep breeds contained three genotypes. Then, we conducted population genetic analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms in NLRP5 and NLRP9, and we found that the polymorphism information content value in all sheep breeds ranged from 0 to 0.36, and most sheep breeds were under Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (p > 0.05). Furthermore, association analysis in Small Tail Han sheep indicated that two loci, g.60495363G > A in NLRP5 and g.59030623T > C in NLRP9, were highly associated with litter size. The mutation in g.60495363G > A may decrease interactions of NLRP5 with proteins, such as GDF9, whereas the mutation in g.59030623T > C may enhance the combining capacity of NLRP9 with these proteins; consequently, these mutations may influence the ovulation rate and even litter size. The findings of our study provide valuable genetic markers that can be used to improve the breeding of sheep and even other mammals.

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Polymorphism Detection of GDF9 Gene and Its Association with Litter Size in Luzhong Mutton Sheep (Ovis aries)

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11020571 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 571

Author(s):

Fengyan Wang ◽

Mingxing Chu ◽

Linxiang Pan ◽

Xiangyu Wang ◽

Xiaoyun He ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Litter Size ◽

Tertiary Structure ◽

Novel Mutation ◽

Major Gene ◽

Ovis Aries ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Economic Traits ◽

Coding Region ◽

Association Analyses ◽

Gdf9 Gene

Litter size is one of the most important economic traits in sheep. GDF9 and BMPR1B are major genes affecting the litter size of sheep. In this study, the whole coding region of GDF9 was sequenced and all the SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) were determined in Luzhong mutton ewes. The FecB mutation was genotyped using the Sequenom MassARRAY®SNP assay technology. Then, the association analyses between polymorphic loci of GDF9 gene, FecB, and litter size were performed using a general linear model procedure. The results showed that eight SNPs were detected in GDF9 of Luzhong mutton sheep, including one novel mutation (g.41769606 T > G). The g.41768501A > G, g.41768485 G > A in GDF9 and FecB were significantly associated with litter size in Luzhong mutton ewes. The g.41768485 G > A is a missense mutation in the mature GDF9 protein region and is predicted to affect the tertiary structure of the protein. The results preliminarily demonstrated that GDF9 was a major gene affecting the fecundity of Luzhong mutton sheep and the two loci g.41768501A > G and g.41768485 G > A may be potential genetic markers for improving litter size.

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Genome-Wide Association Analysis of Growth Curve Parameters in Chinese Simmental Beef Cattle

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11010192 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 192

Author(s):

Xinghai Duan ◽

Bingxing An ◽

Lili Du ◽

Tianpeng Chang ◽

Mang Liang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Beef Cattle ◽

Candidate Genes ◽

Growth Curve ◽

Growth And Development ◽

Genome Wide Association Study ◽

Genome Wide Association ◽

Coefficient Of Determination ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Genome Wide ◽

A Genome

The objective of the present study was to perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for growth curve parameters using nonlinear models that fit original weight–age records. In this study, data from 808 Chinese Simmental beef cattle that were weighed at 0, 6, 12, and 18 months of age were used to fit the growth curve. The Gompertz model showed the highest coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.954). The parameters’ mature body weight (A), time-scale parameter (b), and maturity rate (K) were treated as phenotypes for single-trait GWAS and multi-trait GWAS. In total, 9, 49, and 7 significant SNPs associated with A, b, and K were identified by single-trait GWAS; 22 significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified by multi-trait GWAS. Among them, we observed several candidate genes, including PLIN3, KCNS3, TMCO1, PRKAG3, ANGPTL2, IGF-1, SHISA9, and STK3, which were previously reported to associate with growth and development. Further research for these candidate genes may be useful for exploring the full genetic architecture underlying growth and development traits in livestock.

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Dementia key gene identification with multi-layered SNP-gene-disease network

Bioinformatics ◽

10.1093/bioinformatics/btaa814 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 36 (Supplement_2) ◽

pp. i831-i839

Author(s):

Dong-gi Lee ◽

Myungjun Kim ◽

Sang Joon Son ◽

Chang Hyung Hong ◽

Hyunjung Shin

Keyword(s):

Candidate Genes ◽

Learning Algorithm ◽

Search Space ◽

Supplementary Information ◽

Gene Identification ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Disease Network ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Key Genes ◽

Significant Attention

Abstract Motivation Recently, various approaches for diagnosing and treating dementia have received significant attention, especially in identifying key genes that are crucial for dementia. If the mutations of such key genes could be tracked, it would be possible to predict the time of onset of dementia and significantly aid in developing drugs to treat dementia. However, gene finding involves tremendous cost, time and effort. To alleviate these problems, research on utilizing computational biology to decrease the search space of candidate genes is actively conducted. In this study, we propose a framework in which diseases, genes and single-nucleotide polymorphisms are represented by a layered network, and key genes are predicted by a machine learning algorithm. The algorithm utilizes a network-based semi-supervised learning model that can be applied to layered data structures. Results The proposed method was applied to a dataset extracted from public databases related to diseases and genes with data collected from 186 patients. A portion of key genes obtained using the proposed method was verified in silico through PubMed literature, and the remaining genes were left as possible candidate genes. Availability and implementation The code for the framework will be available at http://www.alphaminers.net/. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

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Transcriptomic profiling of wheat near-isogenic lines reveals candidate genes on chromosome 3A for pre-harvest sprouting resistance

BMC Plant Biology ◽

10.1186/s12870-021-02824-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Xingyi Wang ◽

Hui Liu ◽

Kadambot H. M. Siddique ◽

Guijun Yan

Keyword(s):

Candidate Genes ◽

Quantitative Trait ◽

Genomic Region ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Near Isogenic Lines ◽

Gene Effects ◽

Isogenic Lines ◽

Trait Locus ◽

Grain Yield And Quality ◽

Sprouting Resistance

Abstract Background Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) in wheat can cause severe damage to both grain yield and quality. Resistance to PHS is a quantitative trait controlled by many genes located across all 21 wheat chromosomes. The study targeted a large-effect quantitative trait locus (QTL) QPhs.ccsu-3A.1 for PHS resistance using several sets previously developed near-isogenic lines (NILs). Two pairs of NILs with highly significant phenotypic differences between the isolines were examined by RNA sequencing for their transcriptomic profiles on developing seeds at 15, 25 and 35 days after pollination (DAP) to identify candidate genes underlying the QTL and elucidate gene effects on PHS resistance. At each DAP, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the isolines were investigated. Results Gene ontology and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses of key DEGs suggested that six candidate genes underlie QPhs.ccsu-3A.1 responsible for PHS resistance in wheat. Candidate gene expression was further validated by quantitative RT-PCR. Within the targeted QTL interval, 16 genetic variants including five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 11 indels showed consistent polymorphism between resistant and susceptible isolines. Conclusions The targeted QTL is confirmed to harbor core genes related to hormone signaling pathways that can be exploited as a key genomic region for marker-assisted selection. The candidate genes and SNP/indel markers detected in this study are valuable resources for understanding the mechanism of PHS resistance and for marker-assisted breeding of the trait in wheat.

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