Pleiotropic Multi-Trait Genome-Wide Association Reveals Putative Candidate Genes for Fatty Acid Composition in Australian Sheep

Abstract

The aims of this paper were to detect SNP and genes that affect the fatty acid composition and other carcass and meat quality traits in sheep. We performed genome-wide association studies (OW AS) for 56 traits including carcass weights, muscling, fatness, tenderness, meat color, mineral content, and fatty acid composition on 10,613 animals genotyped for 510,174 SNPs. The use of ameta-analysis to combine information from the 56 traits increased the power to detect QTL compared with the single trait analyses. We found pleiotropic QTL, which appear to cluster into 5 functional groups based on their trait effects. Candidate genes were identified in the groups that have functions consistent with the biology of the traits.