Runs of homozygosity analysis reveals consensus homozygous regions affecting production traits in Chinese Simmental beef cattle
Guoyao Zhao,
Yuqiang Liu,
Qunhao Niu,
Xu Zheng,
Tianliu Zhang,
Zezhao Wang,
Lei Xu,
Bo Zhu,
Xue Gao,
Lupei Zhang,
Huijiang Gao,
Junya Li,
Lingyang Xu
Affiliations
Guoyao Zhao
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Yuqiang Liu
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Qunhao Niu
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Xu Zheng
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Tianliu Zhang
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Zezhao Wang
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Lei Xu
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bo Zhu
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Xue Gao
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Lupei Zhang
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Huijiang Gao
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Junya Li
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Lingyang Xu
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract Background Genomic regions with a high frequency of runs of homozygosity (ROH) are related to important traits in farm animals. We carried out a comprehensive analysis of ROH and evaluated their association with production traits using the BovineHD (770 K) SNP array in Chinese Simmental beef cattle. Results We detected a total of 116,953 homozygous segments with 2.47Gb across the genome in the studied population. The average number of ROH per individual was 99.03 and the average length was 117.29 Mb. Notably, we detected 42 regions with a frequency of more than 0.2. We obtained 17 candidate genes related to body size, meat quality, and reproductive traits. Furthermore, using Fisher’s exact test, we found 101 regions were associated with production traits by comparing high groups with low groups in terms of production traits. Of those, we identified several significant regions for production traits (P < 0.05) by association analysis, within which candidate genes including ECT2, GABRA4, and GABRB1 have been previously reported for those traits in beef cattle. Conclusions Our study explored ROH patterns and their potential associations with production traits in beef cattle. These results may help to better understand the association between production traits and genome homozygosity and offer valuable insights into managing inbreeding by designing reasonable breeding programs in farm animals.