TY - JOUR
T1 - Genome-Wide Scans Reveal a Quantitative Trait Locus for Withers Height in Horses Near the ANKRD1 Gene
AU - Al Abri, Mohammed A.
AU - Posbergh, Christian
AU - Palermo, Katelyn
AU - Sutter, Nathan B.
AU - Eberth, John
AU - Hoffman, Gabriel E.
AU - Brooks, Samantha A.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank many horse owners for volunteering to provide samples for DNA and measurements of their horses. We would also like to thank Allison Seebald for assistance in processing the DNA samples. This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture , Hatch project NYC-127454 . Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) or the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Funding Information:
We would like to thank many horse owners for volunteering to provide samples for DNA and measurements of their horses. We would also like to thank Allison Seebald for assistance in processing the DNA samples. This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project NYC-127454. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) or the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2018/1
Y1 - 2018/1
N2 - Withers height is an important economic trait for the American Miniature Horses (AMHs) as the breeders’ primary objective is to produce small and proportionate animals. Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) affecting height in this breed will result in a better understanding of the genetic architecture and biological pathways contributing to skeletal development. In earlier work, we genotyped 48 horses from 16 different breeds that represent extremes in body size, using the Equine SNP50 bead chip (Illumina Inc). In this study, we applied a dominant model Genome-wide association study (GWAS), a genome-wide fixation index (FST) estimation, as well as a cross-population composite likelihood ratio (XP-CLR) test between the eight large and eight small breeds from this data set. Our GWAS implicated the marker at ECA1:37,676,322 bp, positioned within an intron of the ANKRD1 gene, was significantly associated with height variation. An XP-CLR scan further supported a role in height for the ECA1:37,676,322 bp locus and the FST analysis supported correlations to IGF2BP2 at ECA19:23,815,750. To confirm our findings, we genotyped the candidate loci in an independent set of 89 AMHs. This set verified that the locus at ANKRD1 gene indeed correlates to height under a dominant mode of inheritance, but not the locus at the IGF2BP2 gene. ANKRD1, a transcription factor involved in myocyte growth and differentiation, may contribute to height by influencing the overall growth of the horses. This marker will be a valuable tool for the selection of breeding stock in breeds with height restrictions for registration.
AB - Withers height is an important economic trait for the American Miniature Horses (AMHs) as the breeders’ primary objective is to produce small and proportionate animals. Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) affecting height in this breed will result in a better understanding of the genetic architecture and biological pathways contributing to skeletal development. In earlier work, we genotyped 48 horses from 16 different breeds that represent extremes in body size, using the Equine SNP50 bead chip (Illumina Inc). In this study, we applied a dominant model Genome-wide association study (GWAS), a genome-wide fixation index (FST) estimation, as well as a cross-population composite likelihood ratio (XP-CLR) test between the eight large and eight small breeds from this data set. Our GWAS implicated the marker at ECA1:37,676,322 bp, positioned within an intron of the ANKRD1 gene, was significantly associated with height variation. An XP-CLR scan further supported a role in height for the ECA1:37,676,322 bp locus and the FST analysis supported correlations to IGF2BP2 at ECA19:23,815,750. To confirm our findings, we genotyped the candidate loci in an independent set of 89 AMHs. This set verified that the locus at ANKRD1 gene indeed correlates to height under a dominant mode of inheritance, but not the locus at the IGF2BP2 gene. ANKRD1, a transcription factor involved in myocyte growth and differentiation, may contribute to height by influencing the overall growth of the horses. This marker will be a valuable tool for the selection of breeding stock in breeds with height restrictions for registration.
KW - ANKRD1
KW - GWAS
KW - IGF2BP2
KW - Miniature horse size
KW - Withers height
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jevs.2017.05.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jevs.2017.05.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85020396761
SN - 0737-0806
VL - 60
SP - 67-73.e1
JO - Journal of Equine Veterinary Science
JF - Journal of Equine Veterinary Science
ER -