A Genome-wide Scan for Selective Sweeps in Racing Horses.
Using next-generation sequencing, we conducted a genome-wide scan of selective sweeps associated with selection toward genetic improvement in Thoroughbreds. We investigated potential phenotypic consequence of putative candidate loci by candidate gene association mapping for the finishing time in 240 Thoroughbred horses. We found a significant association with the trait for Ral GApase alpha 2 (RALGAP2) that regulates a variety of cellular processes of signal trafficking. Neighboring genes around RALGAP2 included insulinoma-associated 1 (INSM1), pallid (PLDN), and Ras and Rab interactor 2 (RIN2) genes have similar roles in signal trafficking, suggesting that a co-evolving gene cluster located on the chromosome 22 is under strong artificial selection in racehorses.
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology and Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
Sunjin
S
Moon
Horse Registry, Korea Racing Authority (KRA), Gwacheon 427-711, Korea.
Jin Woo
JW
Lee
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology and Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
Donghyun
D
Shin
Institute for Livestock Promotion, Jeju 690-802, Korea.
Kwang-Yun
KY
Shin
Institute for Livestock Promotion, Jeju 690-802, Korea.
Jun
J
Kim
Genome analysis center, National Instrumentation and Environmental Management (NICEM), Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea.
Ik-Young
IY
Choi
Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
Jaemin
J
Kim
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology and Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea ; Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea ; C&K Genomics, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
Heebal
H
Kim
Quantitative Trait Loci; Racehorse; Selective Sweep; Single Nucleotide Polymorphism