IDENTIFICATION OF GENETIC MARKERS ASSOCIATED WITH DISEASE RESISTANCE IN LIVESTOCK

Iqra Basharat

Authors

Iqra Basharat University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan Author

Keywords:

Genome Wide Association, Disease Resistance, Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, Genomic Selection, Marker Assisted Selection, Livestock Breeding

Abstract

Food security is impacted by disease and it is vital to ensure genetic improvement in disease resistance is sustainable. This study was conducted to identify genetic markers for disease resistance in cattle (bovine tuberculosis) and pigs (porcine respiratory disease syndrome), by using a case Post quality control, 612,447 (cattle) and 62,103 (pigs) SNPs were analysed. Ensemble prediction was the most accurate, and significantly higher than GBLUP and Bayesian methods. A total of 46 genome wide significant SNPs were identified (27 in cattle, 19 in pigs), with the strongest association observed for rs80775688 mapping to a candidate gene involved in Toll like receptor signaling. Genomic heritabilities (on the liability scale) ranged between 0.381-0.453. Validation rate was 82%. Gene Ontology analysis identified over-represented immune pathways such as Toll Survival analysis also identified that high.