Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2026

Large-Scale Multi-Omics Genome-Wide Association Studies (Mo-GWAS): Guidelines for Sample Preparation and Normalization
Published on: July 27, 2021
Makeup of the genetic correlation between milk production traits using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism
R van Binsbergen1, R F Veerkamp, M P L Calus
1Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre, Wageningen University, PO Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
The correlated responses between traits may differ depending on the makeup of genetic covariances, and may differ from the predictions of polygenic covariances. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the makeup of the genetic covariances between the well-studied traits: milk yield, fat yield, protein yield, and their percentages in more detail. Phenotypic records of 1,737 heifers of research farms in 4 different countries were used after homogenizing and adjusting for management effects. All cows had a genotype for 37,590 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). A bayesian stochastic search variable selection model was used to estimate the SNP effects for each trait. About 0.5 to 1.0% of the SNP had a significant effect on 1 or more traits; however, the SNP without a significant effect explained most of the genetic variances and covariances of the traits. Single nucleotide polymorphism correlations differed from the polygenic correlations, but only 10 regions were found with an effect on multiple traits; in 1 of these regions the DGAT1 gene was previously reported with an effect on multiple traits. This region explained up to 41% of the variances of 4 traits and explained a major part of the correlation between fat yield and fat percentage and contributes to asymmetry in correlated response between fat yield and fat percentage. Overall, for the traits in this study, the infinitesimal model is expected to be sufficient for the estimation of the variances and covariances.
Related Concept Videos
Genome-wide Association Studies-GWAS
GWAS does not require the identification of the target gene involved in...
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
Polygenic Traits
Polygenic Traits
Principles of Pharmacogenetics: Types of Genetic Variants
Comparing Copy Number Variations and SNPs
Copy number variations or CNVs are the structural variations that cover more than 1kb of DNA sequence. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), on the other hand, is a single nucleotide change or a point mutation that is found in more than 1%...

