title: A genome-wide association study reveals a QTL influencing caudal supernumerary teats in Holstein cattle.
abstract: Supernumerary teats represent a common abnormality of the bovine udder. A genome-wide association study was performed based on the proportion of the occurrence of supernumerary teats in the daughters of 1097 Holstein bulls. The heritability of caudal supernumerary teats without mammary gland in this study was 0.604. The largest proportion of the heritability was attributable to BTA 20. The strongest evidence for association was with five SNPs on chromosome 20, referred to as a QTL. The mode of inheritance at this QTL was dominant. These findings reveal that the occurrence of caudal supernumerary teats without mammary gland in Holstein cattle is influenced by a QTL on chromosome 20 and a polygenic part. The data support the high potential of the SNPs in the QTL region as markers for breeding against caudal supernumerary teats.
authors.affiliation: School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Länggasse 85, 3052, Zollikofen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Joerg
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meili
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ruprecht
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bangerter
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burren
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bigler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000662:veterinary*; D001947:Breeding; D002417:Cattle / Q000235:genetics*; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies / Q000662:veterinary; D040582:Inheritance Patterns; D008297:Male; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000002:abnormalities*; D009558:Nipples / Q000002:abnormalities*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci
keywords: dairy cattle; extra teats; genetic markers; genomic selection