Whole genome sequencing and structural variations provide insights into the body size traits of Hu sheep

Hu sheep is an indigenous breed in China, renowned for its prolificacy. However, Hu sheep have smaller statures compared to other meat sheep breeds, necessitating improvement. Therefore, further research is required to explore the underlying molecular genetic mechanisms of body size traits in Hu sheep. In this study, whole genome sequencing was conducted on 300 Hu sheep with an average depth of 16.51X. A total of 9.53 T of high-quality sequencing data was generated. After quality controlled, Q30 range of clean reads was 86.76% to 95.46%, and GC range was 41.52% to 44.48%. Subsequently, we identified 23274312 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 64759 structural variations (SVs) through a series of bioinformatics analyses. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS), including SNP-GWAS and SV-GWAS, were performed in combination with five body size traits. Furthermore, domestication adaptation regions within the Hu sheep population were explored through selection signatures analysis. This dataset provides a valuable genetic resource for sheep breeding, and serves as a reference for the application of SVs in sheep economic traits.