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Genome-wide pleiotropy and shared biological pathways for resistance to bovine pathogens
M Mahmoud1,2, Y Zeng2, M Shirali3
1Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, Gießen, Germany.
Plos One
|April 3, 2018
Summary
Genomic data revealed higher heritability for pathogen resistance in calves than cows. This study identifies key genetic pathways for improved cattle disease resistance and production fitness.
Area of Science:
- Animal Genetics
- Immunology
- Veterinary Science
Background:
- Host genetics significantly influences disease resistance, but data limitations and environmental confounding hinder genetic analysis.
- Traditional pedigree studies face challenges in accurately estimating heritability for health traits, especially those with low incidence rates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate heritabilities and genetic correlations for resistance to 23 infectious pathogens in cattle using genomic data.
- To investigate the genetic basis of disease resistance and identify biological pathways involved.
- To explore pleiotropic effects between disease resistance and performance traits.
Main Methods:
- Utilized genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism data.
- Applied the Genomic-Restricted Maximum Likelihood (G-REML) method for heritability and genetic correlation estimation.
- Conducted gene-based and generalized gene-set analyses to identify relevant biological pathways.
Main Results:
- Heritability of pathogen resistance was generally higher in calves than in cows.
- Significant pleiotropy was observed between resistance traits within calves and cows, and between resistance and performance traits.
- The B-lymphocyte pathway was identified as a crucial biological pathway associated with resistance to all tested pathogens.
Conclusions:
- Genomic approaches effectively overcome limitations of traditional methods for studying cattle disease resistance genetics.
- Identified genetic correlations and pleiotropy provide insights for breeding programs.
- Findings support the B-lymphocyte pathway's role in broad-spectrum pathogen resistance and offer a foundation for genomic selection to enhance cattle health and productivity.
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