Genome-wide association and expression quantitative trait loci in cattle reveals common genes regulating mammalian fertility

作者：Mehrnush Forutan, Bailey N. Engle, Amanda J. Chamberlain, Elizabeth M. Ross, Loan Nguyen, Michael J. D’Occhio, Alf Collins Snr, Elise A. Kho, Geoffry Fordyce, Shannon Speight, Michael E. Goddard, Ben J. Hayes · 发表于：Communications Biology · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1038/s42003-024-06403-2 · 被引用次数：22 · 研究领域：Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock、Reproductive Physiology in Livestock、Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals

Most genetic variants associated with fertility in mammals fall in non-coding regions of the genome and it is unclear how these variants affect fertility. Here we use genome-wide association summary statistics for Heifer puberty (pubertal or not at 600 days) from 27,707 Bos indicus, Bos taurus and crossbred cattle; multi-trait GWAS signals from 2119 indicine cattle for four fertility traits, including days to calving, age at first calving, pregnancy status, and foetus age in weeks (assessed by rectal palpation of the foetus); and expression quantitative trait locus for whole blood from 489 indicine cattle, to identify 87 putatively functional genes affecting cattle fertility. Our analysis reveals a significant overlap between the set of cattle and previously reported human fertility-related genes, impling the existence of a shared pool of genes that regulate fertility in mammals. These findings are crucial for developing approaches to improve fertility in cattle and potentially other mammals.