Genome-wide association study for reproduction traits in Colombian Creole Blanco Orejinegro cattle

Abstract

Abstract Reproductive traits are fundamental for beef-cattle production system profitability. However, traits such as age at first calving (AFC), calving interval (CI), and gestation length (GL) have use disadvantages in traditional breeding programs since they are measured in only one sex and may have low heritability. Another important aspect is the conservation of the genetic resources of animals adapted to the Colombian regions, which implies the preservation and rational use of the creole breeds present in the country market. Therefore, this study aimed to identify genomic regions in the creole cattle breed Blanco Orejinero (BON) that influences the reproductive traits in females and to understand their genetic architecture. The dataset used comprised 439 animals and 118,116 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) markers. The GS3 program was used to identify the SNP effects employing the BAYES Cπ methodology. The number of SNPs with effect for AFC was 25, 1,527 for CI, and 23 for GL. Some of the genes found (ECE1, EPH, EPHB2, SMARCAL1, IGFBP5, IGFBP2, FCGRT, EGFR, MUL1, PINK1, STPG1, CNGB1, TGFB1, OXTR, IL22RA1, MYOM3, OXTR, CNR2, HIVEP3, CTPS1, CXCL8, FCGRT, MREG, TMEM169, PECR, and MC1R) were previously associated with reproduction and growth traits, as well as with immune response and environmental adaptation in BON cattle. Our results evidenced a high contribution of the genetic architecture of the Colombian creole cattle breed Blanco Orejinegro that should be included in the implementation of genetic improvement and conservation programs.