Genome-Wide Association Study of Body Measurement Traits at Birth in Cattle.
- 1Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding on Tibetan Plateau, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Lanzhou 730050, China.
- 2Key Laboratory of Yak Breeding of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China.
- 3Zhangye Livestock Breeding and Improvement Workstation, Zhangye 734000, China.
Abstract
Hexi cattle are an indigenous beef population developed through multigenerational crossing of Simmental and Mongolian cattle, exhibiting exceptional adaptability to arid and semi-arid environments alongside robust growth performance. To investigate the genetic architecture underlying early growth traits, we conducted a GWAS for body weight (BW), withers height (WH), body length (BL), and heart girth (HG) in a cohort of 264 Hexi cattle (125 males, 139 females). Phenotypic analyses showed that male calves had significantly higher values for all traits relative to female calves (p < 0.05), confirming the presence of sexual dimorphism. The genomic inflation factors (λ = 0.997-1.016) indicated that population structure was effectively controlled. In total, 11 functional candidate genes were identified under the genome-wide significant threshold of p < 1.0 × 10⁻⁶. Specifically, SLC44A1 associated with BW; PTGS2, POP1, and ERC2 with WH; TIAM1, PROK1, SMOC2, and RFFL with BL; and C3orf80, PROKR1, and FBXO32 with HG. These results not only advance our understanding of the genetic regulation of early development in Hexi cattle but also establish a foundation for implementing marker-assisted and genomic selection in this population.
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BibTeX
@article{wang2026genomewide,
title = {{Genome-Wide Association Study of Body Measurement Traits at Birth in Cattle.}},
author = {Xinlu Wang and Weiguo Ju and Xiaoming Ma and Min Chu and Yongfu La and Xian Guo and Ping Yan and Bo Yang and Chunnian Liang},
journal = {Animals : an open access journal from MDPI},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ani16193133},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883102},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Genome-Wide Association Study of Body Measurement Traits at Birth in Cattle.
AU - Xinlu Wang
AU - Weiguo Ju
AU - Xiaoming Ma
AU - Min Chu
AU - Yongfu La
AU - Xian Guo
AU - Ping Yan
AU - Bo Yang
AU - Chunnian Liang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
JO - Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
DO - 10.3390/ani16193133
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883102
AB - Hexi cattle are an indigenous beef population developed through multigenerational crossing of Simmental and Mongolian cattle, exhibiting exceptional adaptability to arid and semi-arid environments alongside robust growth performance. To investigate the genetic architecture underlying early growth traits, we conducted a GWAS for body weight (BW), withers height (WH), body length (BL), and heart girth (HG) in a cohort of 264 Hexi cattle (125 males, 139 females). Phenotypic analyses showed that male calves had significantly higher values for all traits relative to female calves (p < 0.05), confirming the presence of sexual dimorphism. The genomic inflation factors (λ = 0.997-1.016) indicated that population structure was effectively controlled. In total, 11 functional candidate genes were identified under the genome-wide significant threshold of p < 1.0 × 10⁻⁶. Specifically, SLC44A1 associated with BW; PTGS2, POP1, and ERC2 with WH; TIAM1, PROK1, SMOC2, and RFFL with BL; and C3orf80, PROKR1, and FBXO32 with HG. These results not only advance our understanding of the genetic regulation of early development in Hexi cattle but also establish a foundation for implementing marker-assisted and genomic selection in this population.
SN - 2076-2615
ER -