A genome‐wide association study reveals a quantitative trait locus for age at first calving in delta/notch‐like EGF repeat containing on chromosome 2 in Japanese Black cattle. (6th December 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sasaki, Shinji; Ibi, Takayuki; Ikeda, Shogo; Sugimoto, Yoshikazu
• Is Part Of: Animal genetics. Volume 45:Number 2(2014:Apr.)
• Page Start: 285
• Page End: 287
• Publication Date: 2013-12-06
• Subjects: Animal genetics -- Periodicals; 572.8
• DOI: 10.1111/age.12109
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0268-9146

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="age12109-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <p>Age at first calving (AFC) is an important trait for achieving earlier reproductive performance in cattle. To identify quantitative trait loci for AFC in Japanese Black cattle, we conducted a genome‐wide association study using 866 animals with extreme AFC values selected from a larger group of 52 009 animals. We identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on bovine chromosome 2 that were associated with AFC. These SNPs were located within 112.8‐kbp intronic region of <italic>delta/notch‐like EGF repeat containing</italic> (<italic>DNER</italic>) and proved to be in a state of high linkage disequilibrium. The association was replicated in an independent sample of 2963 animals. In the replicated population, the frequency of the reduced AFC allele (<italic>Q</italic>) was 0.463, and the allele accounts for 8% of the total genetic variance. The effect of allele substitution on AFC was a decrease of 11.54 days. The results suggest that the <italic>Q</italic> allele could serve as a useful marker in Japanese Black cattle to select animals with superior AFC performance.</p> </abstract>