A genome‐wide association study indicates LCORL/NCAPG as a candidate locus for withers height in German Warmblood horses. (18th February 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tetens, J.; Widmann, P.; Kühn, C.; Thaller, G.
• Is Part Of: Animal genetics. Volume 44:Number 4(2013:Aug.)
• Page Start: 467
• Page End: 471
• Publication Date: 2013-02-18
• Subjects: Animal genetics -- Periodicals; 572.8
• DOI: 10.1111/age.12031
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0268-9146

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en" id="age12031-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <p>A genome‐wide association scan for loci affecting withers height was conducted in 782 German Warmblood stallions, which were genotyped using the Illumina EquineSNP50 Bead Chip. A principal components approach was applied to correct for population structure. The analysis revealed a single major QTL on ECA3 explaining ~18 per cent of the phenotypic variance, which is in concordance with recent reports from other horse populations. The <italic>LCORL/NCAPG</italic> locus represents a strong candidate gene for this QTL. This locus is among a small number that have consistently been identified to influence human height in several large meta‐analyses. Furthermore, a mutation within the <italic>NCAPG</italic> gene was found to affect growth and body frame size in cattle. Together with the results of this study in German Warmbloods, these findings strongly indicate <italic>LCORL/NCAPG</italic> as a candidate locus for withers height in horses. Further studies are, however, needed to confirm this.</p> </abstract>