Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (5): 2168-2181.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.05.017

• Animal Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Population Structure Analysis and Economic Traits Related Selection Signal Detection of Hu Sheep

SUN Guoxin1,2(), LI Yunhua1, SAI Yin1, GUO Wenhua1, ZHAO Yanhong2, ZHANG Manxin3, LIU Jiasen1,*()   

  1. 1. Institute of Animal Husbandry, Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences, Hohhot 010031, China
    2. College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China
    3. Jinhe Youben Biological Products Co., Ltd., Hohhot 010200, China
  • Received:2024-10-28 Online:2025-05-23 Published:2025-05-27
  • Contact: LIU Jiasen E-mail:a2432613041@163.com;jsliu588@163.com

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to detect the selection signal of SNPs microarray genotyping results of Hu sheep, explore the population structure of Hu sheep, and mine candidate genes related to important economic traits of Hu sheep, so as to provide a theoretical basis for further innovation and utilization of Hu sheep breeds. The total of 396 individuals (320 ewes and 76 rams) from the high breeding Hu sheep population were genotyped using sheep 50K SNP chip. After quality control, the selected Hu sheep populations were analyzed by principal component analysis and genetic relationship evaluation. The candidate regions were comprehensively screened and annotated by integrating haplotype score (IHS), neutral test statistic (Tajima 's D), composite likelihood ratio test (CLR) and continuous homozygous fragment (ROH). The functions of candidate genes were determined by GO-KEGG enrichment analysis, NCBI database, literature retrieval and GWAS ATLAS database. The results of principal component analysis showed that most Hu sheep individuals were concentrated in distribution, and the results of genetic relationship showed that the relationship between Hu sheep individuals was far, and the average inbreeding index of Hu sheep population was FROH=0.010 3, indicating that the inbreeding level of Hu sheep population was low. At the same time, the results of ROH analysis showed that the vast majority of ROH fragments were short ROH fragments < 10 Mb, indicating that Hu sheep had been inbred in the distant generation. Set the top 5% of IHS, Tajima 's D, CLR and ROH results in the population as the selected region, and a total of 45.86 MB candidate regions were found, accounting for about 1.75% of the sheep reference genome. After gene annotation, 1 424 genes were detected by iHS, 760 genes were detected by Tajima 's D, 964 genes were detected by CLR, 647 genes were detected by ROH, and 337 candidate genes were mined from the gene intersection obtained by two or more methods. GO-KEGG enrichment results showed that GO analysis enriched (P < 0.05) to items such as keratinization, intermediate filament tissue and skeletal system development, and KEGG analysis enriched (P < 0.05) to pathways such as ECM receptor interaction, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy and GnRH secretion. Functional annotation found 65 candidate genes related to important economic traits, most of which were related to growth and reproduction traits. This experiment analyzed the high breeding single population of Hu sheep, and screened out the genes related to the growth traits of Hu sheep, including birth weight (CAPN3、ERLEC1、LAP3), bone development (ACANCOL5A2、HAPLN1、HAPLN3), muscle development (FLVCR1、MUSTN1、PDLIM5), feed conversion rate and feed intake (PLIN1、CCSER1、LAP3) and body size (CSMD3、GPC6、LCORL). The genes related to the reproductive traits of Hu sheep included litter size (BMPR1B、GPRIN3、HCRTR1、MEPEMAST4).And the genes related to other economic traits provide a certain theoretical basis and technical support for improving the breeding efficiency of Hu sheep breeds and optimizing the breeding methods of sheep breeds.

Key words: selection signal, Hu sheep, economic traits, candidate gene

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