A chromosomal region on ECA13 is associated with maxillary prognathism in horses.
Hereditary variations in head morphology and head malformations are known in many species. The most common variation encountered in horses is maxillary prognathism. Prognathism and brachygnathism are syndromes of the upper and lower jaw, respectively. The resulting malocclusion can negatively affect teeth wear, and is considered a non-desirable trait in breeding programs. We performed a case-control analysis for maxillary prognathism in horses using 96 cases and 763 controls. All horses had been previously genotyped with a commercially available 50 k SNP array. We analyzed the data with a mixed-model considering the genomic relationships in order to account for population stratification. Two SNPs within a region on the distal end of chromosome ECA 13 reached the Bonferroni corrected genome-wide significance level. There is no known prognathism candidate gene located within this region. Therefore, our findings in the horse offer the possibility of identifying a novel gene involved in the complex genetics of prognathism that might also be relevant for humans and other livestock species.
School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Zollikofen, Switzerland.
Heidi
H
Signer-Hasler
Swiss National Stud Farm, Agroscope, Avenches, Switzerland.
Markus
M
Neuditschko
Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine ISME, Vetsuisse Faculty University of Bern and Agroscope, Bern, Switzerland.
Christoph
C
Koch
Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine ISME, Vetsuisse Faculty University of Bern and Agroscope, Bern, Switzerland.
Sylvie
S
Froidevaux
School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Zollikofen, Switzerland.
Christine
C
Flury
Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine ISME, Vetsuisse Faculty University of Bern and Agroscope, Bern, Switzerland.
Dominik
D
Burger
Institute of Genetics, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Tosso
T
Leeb
Swiss National Stud Farm, Agroscope, Avenches, Switzerland.
Stefan
S
Rieder
D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000235:genetics*; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D005838:Genotype; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D006736:Horses; D008439:Maxillary Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D011378:Prognathism / Q000235:genetics*