Identification of loci affecting teat number by genome-wide association studies on three pig populations

Jianhong Tang; Zhiyan Zhang; Bin Yang; Yuanmei Guo; Huashui Ai; Yi Long; Ying Su; Leilei Cui; Liyu Zhou; Xiaopeng Wang; Hui Zhang; Chengbin Wang; Jun Ren; Lusheng Huang; Nengshui Ding

doi:10.5713/ajas.15.0980

Identification of loci affecting teat number by genome-wide association studies on three pig populations

Asian-Australas J Anim Sci. 2017 Jan;30(1):1-7. doi: 10.5713/ajas.15.0980. Epub 2016 Apr 22.

Authors

Jianhong Tang¹, Zhiyan Zhang¹, Bin Yang¹, Yuanmei Guo¹, Huashui Ai¹, Yi Long¹, Ying Su¹, Leilei Cui¹, Liyu Zhou¹, Xiaopeng Wang¹, Hui Zhang¹, Chengbin Wang¹, Jun Ren¹, Lusheng Huang¹, Nengshui Ding¹

Affiliation

¹ State Key Laboratory for Pig Genetic Improvement and Production Technology, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China.

Abstract

Objective: Three genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and a meta-analysis of GWAS were conducted to explore the genetic mechanisms underlying variation in pig teat number.

Methods: We performed three GWAS and a meta-analysis for teat number on three pig populations, including a White Duroc×Erhualian F₂ resource population (n = 1,743), a Chinese Erhualian pig population (n = 320) and a Chinese Sutai pig population (n = 383).

Results: We detected 24 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that surpassed the genome-wide significant level on Sus Scrofa chromosomes (SSC) 1, 7, and 12 in the F₂ resource population, corresponding to four loci for pig teat number. We highlighted vertnin (VRTN) and lysine demethylase 6B (KDM6B) as two interesting candidate genes at the loci on SSC7 and SSC12. No significant associated SNPs were identified in the meta-analysis of GWAS.

Conclusion: The results verified the complex genetic architecture of pig teat number. The causative variants for teat number may be different in the three populations.

Keywords: Genome-wide Association Study; Imputation; Meta-analysis; Pig; Teat Number.