Genomewide association analysis of growth traits in Charolais beef cattle

The objective of this study was to perform a genomewide association study (GWAS) for growth traits in Charolais beef cattle and to identify SNP markers and genes associated with these traits. Our study included 855 animals genotyped using 76,883 SNP from the GeneSeek Genomic Profiler Bovine HD panel. The examined phenotypic data included birth, weaning, and yearling weights as well as pre- and postweaning ADG. After quality control, 68,337 SNP and 823 animals were retained in the analysis. The association analysis was performed using the principal components method via the egscore function of the GenABEL version 1.8-0 package in the R environment. Eighteen SNP located in 13 BTA were associated with growth traits (