Genome-Wide Association Study Using Individual Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Haplotypes for Erythrocyte Traits in Alpine Merino Sheep

Shaohua Zhu; Tingting Guo; Hongchang Zhao; Guoyan Qiao; Mei Han; Jianbin Liu; Chao Yuan; Tianxiang Wang; Fanwen Li; Yaojing Yue; Bohui Yang

doi:10.3389/fgene.2020.00848

Genome-Wide Association Study Using Individual Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Haplotypes for Erythrocyte Traits in Alpine Merino Sheep

Front Genet. 2020 Jul 31:11:848. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00848. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Shaohua Zhu^{1

2}, Tingting Guo^{1

2}, Hongchang Zhao^{1

2}, Guoyan Qiao^{1

2}, Mei Han^{1

2}, Jianbin Liu^{1

2}, Chao Yuan^{1

2}, Tianxiang Wang³, Fanwen Li³, Yaojing Yue², Bohui Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ Animal Science Department, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China.
² Sheep Breeding Engineering Technology Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China.
³ Gansu Provincial Sheep Breeding Technology Extension Station, Sunan, China.

Abstract

Adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia is essential for domestic animals, such as yak, Tibetan chicken, and Tibetan sheep, living on high plateaus, as it ensures efficient oxygen absorption and utilization. Red blood cells are the primary medium for transporting oxygen in the blood. However, little is known about the genetic mechanism of erythrocyte traits. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) based on single markers or haplotypes have identified potential mechanisms for genetic variation and quantitative traits. To identify loci associated with erythrocyte traits, we performed a GWAS based on the method of the single marker and haplotype in 498 Alpine Merino sheep for six erythrocyte traits: red blood cell count (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and RBC volume distribution width coefficient of variation (RWD_CV). Forty-two significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the six erythrocyte traits were detected by means of a single-marker GWAS, and 34 significant haplotypes associated with five erythrocyte traits were detected by means of haplotype analysis. We identified six genes (DHCR24, SPATA9, FLI1, PLCB1, EFNB2, and SH2B3) as potential genes of interest via gene function annotations, location, and expression variation. In particular, FLI1 and PLCB1 were associated with hematopoiesis and erythropoiesis, respectively. These results provide a theoretical basis for analyzing erythrocyte traits and high-altitude hypoxia adaptation in Alpine Merino sheep and will be a useful reference for future studies of plateau-dwelling livestock.

Keywords: alpine merino sheep; erythrocyte traits; genome-wide association study; haplotype; high-altitude hypoxia adaptation; single-nucleotide polymorphism.