Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Aug 15;9(8):e103813.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103813. eCollection 2014.

Selection signatures in worldwide sheep populations

Maria-Ines Fariello  1 , Bertrand Servin  2 , Gwenola Tosser-Klopp  2 , Rachel Rupp  2 , Carole Moreno  2 ; International Sheep Genomics Consortium; Magali San Cristobal  2 , Simon Boitard  3
Collaborators, Affiliations

Selection signatures in worldwide sheep populations

Maria-Ines Fariello et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The diversity of populations in domestic species offers great opportunities to study genome response to selection. The recently published Sheep HapMap dataset is a great example of characterization of the world wide genetic diversity in sheep. In this study, we re-analyzed the Sheep HapMap dataset to identify selection signatures in worldwide sheep populations. Compared to previous analyses, we made use of statistical methods that (i) take account of the hierarchical structure of sheep populations, (ii) make use of linkage disequilibrium information and (iii) focus specifically on either recent or older selection signatures. We show that this allows pinpointing several new selection signatures in the sheep genome and distinguishing those related to modern breeding objectives and to earlier post-domestication constraints. The newly identified regions, together with the ones previously identified, reveal the extensive genome response to selection on morphology, color and adaptation to new environments.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: William Barendse (member of International Sheep Genomics Consortium) is a PLOS ONE Editorial Board member. This does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE Editorial policies and criteria.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Localization of selection signatures identified in 7 groups of populations.
Candidate genes are indicated above their genomic localization. Only chromosomes harboring selection signatures are plotted.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Genome scan for selection signature in ancestral populations of the geographical groups.
Significant SNP at the 5% FDR level are plotted in darker color.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Andersson L (2012) How selective sweeps in domestic animals provide new insight into biological mechanisms. J Intern Med 271: 1–14. - PubMed
    1. Zeder MA (2008) Domestication and early agriculture in the mediterranean basin: Origins, diffusion, and impact. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105: 11597–11604. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kijas JW, Townley D, Dalrymple BP, Heaton MP, Maddox JF, et al. (2009) A genome wide survey of SNP variation reveals the genetic structure of sheep breeds. PLoS One 4: e4668. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kijas JW, Lenstra JA, Hayes B, Boitard S, Porto Neto LR, et al. (2012) Genome-wide analysis of the world's sheep breeds reveals high levels of historic mixture and strong recent selection. PLoS Biol 10: e1001258. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Garcia-Gámez E, Reverter A, Whan V, McWilliam SM, Arranz JJA, et al. (2011) Using regulatory and epistatic networks to extend the findings of a genome scan: identifying the gene drivers of pigmentation in merino sheep. PLoS ONE 6: e21158. - PMC - PubMed

Substances