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A genome‐wide association study for gestation length in swine
Author(s) -
See G. M.,
TrenhaileGrannemann M. D.,
Spangler M. L.,
Ciobanu D. C.,
Mote B. E.
Publication year - 2019
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.12822
Subject(s) - biology , heritability , litter , insemination , zoology , snp , gestation , artificial insemination , genome wide association study , single nucleotide polymorphism , genetics , genotype , pregnancy , gene , ecology
Summary Selection for increased litter size in swine has potentially resulted in a correlated increase in preweaning mortality. Additional selection criteria should be considered when selecting for increased litter size to account for associated decreases in piglet quality, specifically piglet survival, initial weight and growth. Traits such as gestation length ( GL ), which have been associated with piglet performance, could be utilized to improve piglet development and survivability. The objective of this study was to conduct a genome‐wide association study to identify genomic regions associated with GL in differing parities in swine ( n = 831) from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln reproductive longevity project. Gestation length was calculated as the number of days between last insemination administered and farrowing. Sows were genotyped with the Illumina SNP 60 BeadArray, and the data were analyzed using Bayesian mixture models for GL at parity 1, 2, 3 and 4 ( GL 1, GL 2, GL 3 and GL 4 respectively). Means ( SD ) for GL 1– GL 4 were 113 (1.4), 114 (1.2), 114 (1.3) and 115 (1.2) respectively. Posterior mean heritability estimates ( PSD ) for GL 1, GL 2, GL 3 and GL 4 were 0.33 (0.06), 0.34 (0.07), 0.32 (0.08) and 0.20 (0.08) respectively. Rank correlations between genomic estimated breeding values between GL 1 and GL 2, GL 3 and GL 4 respectively were moderate: 0.67, 0.65 and 0.60. The top SNP ( ASGA 0017859 , SSC 4, 7.8 Mb), located in the top common genomic region associated with GL 1, GL 2 and GL 3, was associated with a difference of 1.1 days in GL 1 between homozygote genotypes ( P < 0.0001). The results of this study suggest that GL is a largely polygenic trait with relatively minor contributions from multiple genomic regions.