Abstract
AbstractSelection for system-wide morphological, physiological, and metabolic adaptations has led to extreme athletic phenotypes among geographically diverse horse breeds. Here, we identify genes contributing to exercise adaptation in racehorses by applying genomics approaches for racing performance, an end-point athletic phenotype. Using an integrative genomics strategy to first combine population genomics results with skeletal muscle exercise and training transcriptomic data, followed by whole-genome resequencing of Asian horses, we identify protein-coding variants in genes of interest in galloping racehorse breeds (Arabian, Mongolian and Thoroughbred). A core set of genes, G6PC2, HDAC9, KTN1, MYLK2, NTM, SLC16A1 and SYNDIG1, with central roles in muscle, metabolism, and neurobiology, are key drivers of the racing phenotype. Although racing potential is a multifactorial trait, the genomic architecture shaping the common athletic phenotype in horse populations bred for racing provides evidence for the influence of protein-coding variants in fundamental exercise-relevant genes. Variation in these genes may therefore be exploited for genetic improvement of horse populations towards specific types of racing.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,Medicine (miscellaneous)
Reference143 articles.
1. Bell, S., Jaser, C. & Mann, C. Towards a global history of horse racing. Int. J. Hist. Sport 37, 155–162 (2020).
2. Mann, C. & Scharff, S. Horse races and chariot races in ancient greece: struggling for eternal glory. Int. J. Hist. Sport 37, 163–182 (2020).
3. Matsuzawa, T. Horses and nomads in Mongolia. Primates 60, 383–387 (2019).
4. Han, H. et al. Refinement of global domestic horse biogeography using historic landrace chinese mongolian populations. J. Hered. 110, 769–781 (2019).
5. Petersen, J. L. et al. Genetic diversity in the modern horse illustrated from genome-wide SNP data. PLoS One 8, e54997 (2013).
Cited by
4 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献