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Genetic dissection of bull fertility in US Jersey dairy cattle
Author(s) -
Rezende F. M.,
Dietsch G. O.,
Peñagaricano F.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
animal genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.756
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2052
pISSN - 0268-9146
DOI - 10.1111/age.12710
Subject(s) - biology , sire , genetics , sperm , fertility , gene , single nucleotide polymorphism , genotype , zoology , population , demography , sociology
Summary The service sire has been recognized as an important factor affecting herd fertility in dairy cattle. Recent studies suggest that genetic factors explain part of the difference in fertility among Holstein sires. The main objective of this study was to dissect the genetic architecture of sire fertility in US Jersey cattle. The dataset included 1.5 K Jersey bulls with sire conception rate ( SCR ) records and 96 K single nucleotide polymorphism ( SNP ) markers spanning the whole genome. The analysis included whole‐genome scans for both additive and non‐additive effects and subsequent functional enrichment analyses using KEGG Pathway, Gene Ontology ( GO ) and Medical Subject Headings (Me SH ) databases. Ten genomic regions located on eight different chromosomes explained more than 0.5% of the additive genetic variance for SCR . These regions harbor genes, such as PKDREJ , EPB 41L2 , PDGFD , STX 2 , SLC 25A20 and IP 6K1 , that are directly implicated in testis development and spermatogenesis, sperm motility and the acrosome reaction. In addition, the genomic scan for non‐additive effects identified two regions on BTA 11 and BTA 25 with marked recessive effects. These regions harbor three genes— FER 1L5 , CNNM 4 and DNAH 3 —with known roles in sperm biology. Moreover, the gene‐set analysis revealed terms associated with calcium regulation and signaling, membrane fusion, sperm cell energy metabolism, GTP ase activity and MAPK signaling. These gene sets are directly implicated in sperm physiology and male fertility. Overall, this integrative genomic study unravels genetic variants and pathways affecting Jersey bull fertility. These findings may contribute to the development of novel genomic strategies for improving sire fertility in Jersey cattle.