Prospecting major genes in dairy buffaloes.
BACKGROUND
Asian buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) have an important socio-economic role. The majority of the population is situated in developing countries. Due to the scarce resources in these countries, very few species-specific biotechnology tools exist and a lot of cattle-derived technologies are applied to buffaloes. However, the application of cattle genomic tools to buffaloes is not straightforward and, as results suggested, despite genome sequences similarity the genetic polymorphisms are different.


RESULTS
The first SNP chip genotyping platform designed specifically for buffaloes has recently become available. Herein, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and gene network analysis carried out in buffaloes is presented. Target phenotypes were six milk production and four reproductive traits. GWAS identified SNP with significant associations and suggested candidate genes that were specific to each trait and also genes with pleiotropic effect, associated to multiple traits.


CONCLUSIONS
Network predictions of interactions between these candidate genes may guide further molecular analyses in search of disruptive mutations, help select genes for functional experiments and evidence metabolism differences in comparison to cattle. The cattle SNP chip does not offer an optimal coverage of buffalo genome, thereafter the development of new buffalo-specific genetic technologies is warranted. An annotated reference genome would greatly facilitate genetic research, with potential impact to buffalo-based dairy production.
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Departamento de Zootecnia, Via de acesso Professor Paulo Donato Castelane, Jaboticabal, SP, 14884-900, Brazil. gregoriocamargo@hotmail.com.
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de Camargo
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Departamento de Zootecnia, Via de acesso Professor Paulo Donato Castelane, Jaboticabal, SP, 14884-900, Brazil. raul_rusbel@yahoo.es.
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Aspilcueta-Borquis
School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia. m.fortes@uq.edu.au.
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Fortes
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Agriculture Flagship, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia. Laercio.Portoneto@csiro.au.
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Porto-Neto
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Departamento de Zootecnia, Via de acesso Professor Paulo Donato Castelane, Jaboticabal, SP, 14884-900, Brazil. diercles.cardoso@yahoo.com.br.
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Cardoso
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Departamento de Zootecnia, Via de acesso Professor Paulo Donato Castelane, Jaboticabal, SP, 14884-900, Brazil. daniel_jordan2008@hotmail.com.
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Santos
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Agriculture Flagship, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia. Sigrid.Lehnert@csiro.au.
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Lehnert
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Agriculture Flagship, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia. Toni.Reverter-Gomez@csiro.au.
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Reverter
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Centre for Animal Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4067, Australia. s.moore3@uq.edu.au.
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Moore
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Departamento de Zootecnia, Via de acesso Professor Paulo Donato Castelane, Jaboticabal, SP, 14884-900, Brazil. tonhati@fcav.unesp.br.
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Tonhati
D000818:Animals; D002020:Buffaloes / Q000235:genetics*; D003612:Dairying; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D005838:Genotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics