Genome-wide association study for semen traits of the bulls in Chinese Holstein.
A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed to identify markers and candidate genes for five semen traits in the Holstein bull population in China. The analyzed dataset consisted of records from 692 bulls from eight bull stations; each bull was genotyped using the Illumina BovineSNP50 BeadChip. Association tests between each trait and the 41 188 informative high-quality SNPs were achieved with gapit software. In total, 19 suggestive significant SNPs, partly located within the reported QTL regions or within or close to the reported candidate genes, associated with five semen traits were detected. By combining our GWAS results with the biological functions of these genes, eight novel promising candidate genes, including ETNK1, PDE3A, PDGFRB, CSF1R, WT1, DSCAML1, SOD1 and RUNX2, were identified that potentially relate to semen traits. Our findings may provide a basis for further research on the genetic mechanism of semen traits and marker-assisted selection of such traits in Holstein bulls.
College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture, National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Chunhua
C
Qin
College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture, National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Hongwei
H
Yin
College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture, National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Xu
X
Zhang
College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture, National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Dongxiao
D
Sun
College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture, National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Qin
Q
Zhang
College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture, National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Jianfeng
J
Liu
College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture, National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Xiangdong
X
Ding
College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture, National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Yi
Y
Zhang
College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of Ministry of Agriculture, National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Shengli
S
Zhang
D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D002417:Cattle / Q000235:genetics*; D002681:China; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D005838:Genotype; D060005:Genotyping Techniques; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012661:Semen / Q000502:physiology*

GWAS
; China Holstein bulls; single nucleotide polymorphism; sperm quality traits