Genetic parameters and genome-wide association studies including the X chromosome for various reproduction and semen quality traits in Nellore cattle

作者：Felipe E. de Carvalho, José Bento Sterman Ferraz, Victor Breno Pedrosa, Elisangela C. Matos, Joanir Pereira Eler, Marcio R. Silva, José Domingos Guimarães, Fernando Bussiman, Barbara C. A. Silva, Henrique A. Mulim, Artur Oliveira Rocha, André Campêlo Araujo, Hui Wen, Gabriel Soares Campos, Luiz F. Brito · 发表于：BMC Genomics · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s12864-024-11193-2 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock、Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities、Sperm and Testicular Function

Abstract Background The profitability of the beef industry is directly influenced by the fertility rate and reproductive performance of both males and females, which can be improved through selective breeding. When performing genomic analyses, genetic markers located on the X chromosome have been commonly ignored despite the X chromosome being one of the largest chromosomes in the cattle genome. Therefore, the primary objectives of this study were to: (1) estimate variance components and genetic parameters for eighteen male and five female fertility and reproductive traits in Nellore cattle including X chromosome markers in the analyses; and (2) perform genome-wide association studies and functional genomic analyses to better understand the genetic background of male and female fertility and reproductive performance traits in Nellore cattle. Results The percentage of the total direct heritability (h 2 total ) explained by the X chromosome markers (h 2 x ) ranged from 3 to 32% (average: 16.4%) and from 9 to 67% (average: 25.61%) for female reproductive performance and male fertility traits, respectively. Among the traits related to breeding soundness evaluation, the overall bull and semen evaluation and semen quality traits accounted for the highest proportion of h 2 x relative to h 2 total with an average of 39.5% and 38.75%, respectively. The total number of significant genomic markers per trait ranged from 7 (seminal vesicle width) to 43 (total major defects). The number of...