Whole-Genome Resequencing Reveals Selection Signal Related to Sheep Wool Fineness
Wentao Zhang,
Meilin Jin,
Taotao Li,
Zengkui Lu,
Huihua Wang,
Zehu Yuan,
Caihong Wei
Affiliations
Wentao Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Meilin Jin
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Taotao Li
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Zengkui Lu
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding on Tibetan Plateau, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China
Huihua Wang
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Zehu Yuan
College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225000, China
Caihong Wei
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Wool fineness affects the quality of wool, and some studies have identified about forty candidate genes that affect sheep wool fineness, but these genes often reveal only a certain proportion of the variation in wool thickness. We further explore additional genes associated with the fineness of sheep wool. Whole-genome resequencing of eight sheep breeds was performed to reveal selection signals associated with wool fineness, including four coarse wool and four fine/semi-fine wool sheep breeds. Multiple methods to reveal selection signals (Fst and θπ Ratio and XP-EHH) were applied for sheep wool fineness traits. In total, 269 and 319 genes were annotated in the fine wool (F vs. C) group and the coarse wool (C vs. F) group, such as LGR4, PIK3CA, and SEMA3C and NFIB, OPHN1, and THADA. In F vs. C, 269 genes were enriched in 15 significant GO Terms (p p p p < 0.05), such as negative regulation of focal adhesion assembly (GO: 0051895) and Axon guidance (oas 04360). Our study has uncovered genomic information pertaining to significant traits in sheep and has identified valuable candidate genes. This will pave the way for subsequent investigations into related traits.
