Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2020, Vol. 51 ›› Issue (12): 2991-3000.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2020.12.009

• ANIMAL GENETICS AND BREEDING • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Genome-wide Selection Signals Reveal Candidate Genes Associated with the Cashmere Traits of Cashmere Goats

JIN Meilin1, LU Jian2, FEI Xiaojuan1, LU Zengkui3, QUAN Kai4, CHU Mingxing1, DI Ran1, WANG Huihua1*, WEI Caihong1*   

  1. 1. Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China;
    2. National Animal Husbandry Station, Beijing 100193, China;
    3. Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China;
    4. Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy, Zhengzhou 450046, China
  • Received:2020-05-19 Online:2020-12-25 Published:2020-12-23

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to screen the genome-wide selection signals of Liaoning cashmere goat and Inner Mongolia cashmere goat. Based on the Illumina Caprine 50K SNP chip, Liaoning cashmere goat, Inner Mongolia cashmere goat and Huanghuai goat were genotyped, and the common 50 010 SNPs were obtained after quality control. Using population differentiation coefficients Fst and XP-EHH, Huanghuai goats were used as reference populations to detect selection signals for Inner Mongolia cashmere goats and Liaoning cashmere goats. The top 5% of Fst and XP-EHH values was used as the threshold. The result showed that 501 candidate genes were selected by Fst and 145 candidate genes were selected by XP-EHH in cashmere goats. Based on these SNPs, we detected 12 SNPs under strong selection by Fst and XP-EHH. After gene annotation, 21 candidate genes were identified, such as EXOC4, ASIC2, PCDH9, RHBDD1, IRS1 and PDE10A. These genes were found to be mainly enriched in PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, protein digestion and absorption and relaxin signaling pathways. The study indicated that genes associated with cashmere traits were subjected to strong artificial selection pressure during domestication of the cashmere goats. These findings also help us better understand the selection progress of cashmere goats and provide a new theoretical basis for the protection and utilization of germplasm resources of Chinese cashmere goat breeds.

Key words: Inner Mongolia cashmere goat, Liaoning cashmere goat, Fst, XP-EHH

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