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
. 2018 May 21;19(1):375.
doi: 10.1186/s12864-018-4777-8.

Estimates of genomic heritability and genome-wide association study for fatty acids profile in Santa Inês sheep

Affiliations

Estimates of genomic heritability and genome-wide association study for fatty acids profile in Santa Inês sheep

G A Rovadoscki et al. BMC Genomics. .

Abstract

Background: Despite the health concerns and nutritional importance of fatty acids, there is a relative paucity of studies in the literature that report genetic or genomic parameters, especially in the case of sheep populations. To investigate the genetic architecture of fatty acid composition of sheep, we conducted genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and estimated genomic heritabilities for fatty acid profile in Longissimus dorsi muscle of 216 male sheep.

Results: Genomic heritability estimates for fatty acid content ranged from 0.25 to 0.46, indicating that substantial genetic variation exists for the evaluated traits. Therefore, it is possible to alter fatty acid profiles through selection. Twenty-seven genomic regions of 10 adjacent SNPs associated with fatty acids composition were identified on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, each explaining ≥0.30% of the additive genetic variance. Twenty-three genes supporting the understanding of genetic mechanisms of fat composition in sheep were identified in these regions, such as DGAT2, TRHDE, TPH2, ME1, C6, C7, UBE3D, PARP14, and MRPS30.

Conclusions: Estimates of genomic heritabilities and elucidating important genomic regions can contribute to a better understanding of the genetic control of fatty acid deposition and improve the selection strategies to enhance meat quality and health attributes.

Keywords: Candidate genes; Fatty acid composition; Ovine; Variance components.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by Animal Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), n° 07/2016.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Manhattan plot for the proportion of genetic variance explained by windows of 10 adjacent SNPs for saturated fatty acids in the Longissimus dorsi muscle of Santa Inês sheep
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Manhattan plot for the proportion of genetic variance explained by windows of 10 adjacent SNPs for monounsaturated fatty acids in the Longissimus dorsi muscle of Santa Inês sheep
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Manhattan plot for the proportion of genetic variance explained by windows of 10 adjacent SNPs for polyunsaturated fatty acids in the Longissimus dorsi muscle of Santa Inês sheep
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Manhattan plot for the proportion of genetic variance explained by windows of 10 adjacent SNPs for PUFA/SFA and ω6/ω3 ratios in the Longissimus dorsi muscle of Santa Inês sheep

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Valencak TG, Gamsjäger L, Ohrnberger S, Culbert NJ, Ruf T. Healthy n-6/n-3 fatty acid composition from five European game meat species remains after cooking. BMC Res Notes. 2015;8:273. doi: 10.1186/s13104-015-1254-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Saatchi M, Garrick DJ, Tait RG, Mayes MS, Drewnoski M, Schoonmaker J, et al. Genome-wide association and prediction of direct genomic breeding values for composition of fatty acids in Angus beef cattle. BMC Genomics. 2013;14:730. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-14-730. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Biesalski HK. Meat as a component of a healthy diet - are there any risks or benefits if meat is avoided in the diet? Meat Sci. 2005;70:509–524. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2004.07.017. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Haug A, Høstmark AT, Harstad OM. Bovine milk in human nutrition – a review. Lipids Health Dis. 2007;6:25. doi: 10.1186/1476-511X-6-25. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hu FB, Manson JE, Willett WC. Types of dietary fat and risk of coronary heart disease: a critical review. J Am Coll Nutr. 2001;20:5–19. doi: 10.1080/07315724.2001.10719008. - DOI - PubMed

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources