Affiliation:
1. Animal Science Research Department Yazd Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center Agricultural Research Education & Extension Organization (AREEO) Yazd Iran
2. Department of Animal Viral Diseases Research Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization Karaj Iran
3. Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology Vetmeduni Vienna Vienna Austria
4. Department of Animal Science Faculty of Agriculture University of Tabriz Tabriz Iran
5. Department of Animal Science Faculty of Agriculture University of Jiroft Jiroft Iran
6. Animal Science Research Institute of Iran Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO) Karaj Iran
7. Animal Breeding Canter of Iran Karaj Iran
Abstract
AbstractBackgroundInvestigating genomic regions associated with morphometric traits in camels is valuable, because it allows a better understanding of adaptive and productive features to implement a sustainable management and a customised breeding program for dromedaries.ObjectivesWith a genome‐wide association study (GWAS) including 96 Iranian dromedaries phenotyped for 12 morphometric traits and genotyped‐by‐sequencing (GBS) with 14,522 SNPs, we aimed at identifying associated candidate genes.MethodsThe association between SNPs and morphometric traits was investigated using a linear mixed model with principal component analysis (PCA) and kinship matrix.ResultsWith this approach, we detected 59 SNPs located in 37 candidate genes potentially associated to morphometric traits in dromedaries. The top associated SNPs were related to pin width, whither to pin length, height at whither, muzzle girth, and tail length. Interestingly, the results highlight the association between whither height, muzzle circumference, tail length, whither to pin length. The identified candidate genes were associated with growth, body size, and immune system in other species.ConclusionsWe identified three key hub genes in the gene network analysis including ACTB, SOCS1 and ARFGEF1. In the central position of gene network, ACTB was detected as the most important gene related to muscle function. With this initial GWAS using GBS on dromedary camels for morphometric traits, we show that this SNP panel can be effective for genetic evaluation of growth in dromedaries. However, we suggest a higher‐density SNP array may greatly improve the reliability of the results.