Detection of genes influencing economic traits in three French dairy cattle breeds

A project of QTL detection was carried out in the French Holstein, Normande, and Montbéliarde dairy cattle breeds. This granddaughter design included 1 548 artificial insemination bulls distributed in 14 sire families and evaluated after a progeny-test for 24 traits (production, milk composition, persistency, type, fertility, mastitis resistance, and milking ease). These bulls were also genotyped for 169 genetic markers, mostly microsatellites. The QTL were analysed by within-sire linear regression of daughter yield deviations or deregressed proofs on the probability that the son receives one or the other paternal QTL allele, given the marker information. QTL were detected for all traits, including those with a low heritability. One hundred and twenty QTL with a chromosome-wise significance lower than 3% were tabulated. This threshold corresponded to a 15% false discovery rate. Amongst them, 32 were genome-wise significant. Estimates of their contribution to genetic variance ranged from 6 to 40%. Most substitution effects ranged from 0.6 to 1.0 genetic standard deviation. For a given QTL, only 1 to 5 families out of 14 were informative. The confidence intervals of the QTL locations were large and always greater than 20 cM. This experiment confirmed several already published QTL but most of them were original, particularly for non-production traits

Detection of quantitative trait loci for growth and fatness in pigs

A quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of growth and fatness data from a three-generation experimental cross between Meishan (MS) and Large White (LW) pig breeds is presented. Six boars and 23 F1 sows, the progeny of six LW boars and six MS sows, produced 530 F2 males and 573 F2 females. Nine growth traits, i.e. body weight at birth and at 3, 10, 13, 17 and 22 weeks of age, average daily gain from birth to 3 weeks, from 3 to 10 weeks and from 10 to 22 weeks of age, as well as backfat thickness at 13, 17 and 22 weeks of age and at 40 and 60 kg live weight were analysed. Animals were typed for a total of 137 markers covering the entire porcine genome. Analyses were performed using two interval mapping methods: a line-cross (LC) regression method where founder lines were assumed to be fixed for different QTL alleles and a half-/full-sib (HFS) maximum likelihood method where allele substitution effects were estimated within each half-/full-sib family. Both methods revealed highly significant gene effects for growth on chromosomes 1, 4 and 7 and for backfat thickness on chromosomes 1, 4, 5, 7 and X, and significant gene effects on chromosome 6 for growth and backfat thickness. Suggestive QTLs were also revealed by both methods on chromosomes 2 and 3 for growth and 2 for backfat thickness. Significant gene effects were detected for growth on chromosomes 11, 13, 14, 16 and 18 and for backfat thickness on chromosome 8, 10, 13 and 14. LW alleles were associated with high growth rate and low backfat thickness, except for those of chromosome 7 and to a lesser extent early-growth alleles on chromosomes 1 and 2 and backfat thickness alleles on chromosome 6

Apports actuels et futurs des marqueurs génétiques dans l’amélioration des populations animales. Les contrôles de filiation dans les populations

Le contrôle de filiation est utilisé par les organismes en charge de l’amélioration génétique des espèces d’élevage. Il permet de contrôler l’exactitude des généalogies enregistrées dans les fichiers des chaînes nationales d’identification. Il est réalisé en comparant les hémotypes des trois membres (père, mère, produit) des familles contrôlées. Les analyses comportent un grand nombre de tests immunologiques et biochimiques conférant au contrôle de filiation une grande efficacité dans la détection des familles erronées

Utilisation de marqueurs génétiques en sélection : les activités de Labogena

National audienceLe diagnostic génétique appliqué à la sélection animale n’est pas récent, mais des progrès fantastiques ont été réalisés ces dernières années grâce à l’émergence des techniques de biologie moléculaire. L’évolution du nombre d’analyses réalisées par LABOGENA, 45 000 en 1988 pour plus de 100 000 en 1998, est bien la preuve de cet essor. Si deux tiers des activités demeurent traditionnelles, 30 % sont réalisées grâce aux marqueurs de l’ADN et la tendance va encore s’accentuer. La biologie moléculaire permet de réaliser des progrès et d’augmenter les possibilités de diagnostic : les supports biologiques utilisables sont nombreux (sang, poil, peau, viande, embryon, sperme …) ; l’émergence de nouveaux marqueurs polymorphes comme les marqueurs microsatellites de l’ADN permet l’identification et le contrôle de filiations pour de nouvelles espèces (Porc, Chien, Turbot …) ; les diagnostics peuvent être réalisés très précocement par l’analyse directe des variations des gènes impliqués (exemple de la qualité fromagère du lait déterminée sur les futurs reproducteurs mâles) ; les pathologies d’origine génétique peuvent être recherchées par les mutations causales (hyperthermie maligne, tremblante …). Ces informations sur les génotypes aident les sélectionneurs à définir leurs stratégies et permettent d’assurer une bonne gestion des reproducteurs et des populations animales

Genetic determinism of fearfulness, general activity and feeding behavior in chickens and its relationship with digestive efficiency

The genetic relationships between behavior and digestive efficiency were studied in 860 chickens from a cross between two lines divergently selected on digestive efficiency. At 2 weeks of age each chick was video-recorded in the home pen to characterize general activity and feeding behavior. Tonic immobility and open-field tests were also carried out individually to evaluate emotional reactivity (i.e. the propensity to express fear responses). Digestive efficiency was measured at 3 weeks. Genetic parameters of behavior traits were estimated. Birds were genotyped on 3379 SNP markers to detect QTLs. Heritabilities of behavioral traits were low, apart from tonic immobility (0.17–0.18) and maximum meal length (0.14). The genetic correlations indicated that the most efficient birds fed more frequently and were less fearful. We detected 14 QTL (9 for feeding behavior, 3 for tonic immobility, 2 for frequency of lying). Nine of them co-localized with QTL for efficiency, anatomy of the digestive tract, feed intake or microbiota composition. Four genes involved in fear reactions were identified in the QTL for tonic immobility on GGA1

Genetic determinism of bone and mineral metabolism in meat-type chickens: A QTL mapping study

Skeletal integrity in meat-type chickens is affected by many factors including rapid growth rate, nutrition and genetics. To investigate the genetic basis of bone and mineral metabolism, a QTL detection study was conducted in an intercross between two lines of meat-type chickens divergently selected for their high (D+) or low (D−) digestive efficiency. Tibia size (length, diameter, volume) and ash content were determined at 3 weeks of age as well as phosphorus (P) retention and plasma concentration. Heritability of these traits and their genetic correlations with digestive efficiency were estimated. A QTL mapping study was performed using 3379 SNP markers.Tibia size, weight, ash content and breaking strength were highly heritable (0.42 to 0.61). Relative tibia diameter and volume as well as P retention were strongly and positively genetically correlated with digestive efficiency (0.57 to 0.80).A total of 35 QTL were identified (9 for tibia weight, 13 for tibia size, 5 for bone strength, 5 for bone mineralization, 2 for plasma P concentration and 1 for P retention). Six QTL were genome-wide significant, and 3 QTL for tibia relative volume, weight and ash weight on chromosome 6 were fixed, the positive allele coming from the D-line. For two QTL for ash content on chromosome 18 and relative tibia length on chromosome 26, the confidence intervals were small enough to identify potential candidate genes.These findings support the evidence of multiple genetic loci controlling bone and mineral metabolism. The identification of candidate genes may provide new perspectives in the understanding of bone regulation, even beyond avian species. Keywords: Chicken, QTL, Genetic parameters, Phosphorus, Environment, Bon