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. 2022 Jan 23;23(1):74.
doi: 10.1186/s12864-021-08256-z.

Genome-wide association study of beef bull semen attributes

M L Butler  1 , A R Hartman  1 , J M Bormann  1 , R L Weaber  1 , D M Grieger  1 , M M Rolf  2
Affiliations

Genome-wide association study of beef bull semen attributes

M L Butler et al. BMC Genomics. .

Abstract

Background: Cattle production is dependent upon fertility because it results in producing offspring to offset production costs. A number of semen attributes are believed to affect fertility and are frequently measured as part of routine breeding soundness exams or semen collection procedures. The objective of this study was to perform a single-step genome-wide association study (ssGWAS) for beef bull semen attributes. Beef bull fertility phenotypes including volume (VOL), concentration (CONC), number of spermatozoa (NSP), initial motility (IMot), post-thaw motility (PTMot), three-hour post-thaw motility (3HRPTMot), percentage of normal spermatozoa (%NORM), primary abnormalities (PRIM), and secondary abnormalities (SEC) were obtained from two artificial insemination (AI) centers. A total of 1819 Angus bulls with 50,624 collection records were used for ssGWAS. A five-generation pedigree was obtained from the American Angus Association and consisted of 6521 sires and 17,136 dams. Genotypes on 1163 bulls were also obtained from the American Angus Association and utilized in ssGWAS.

Results: A multi-trait animal model was used for the estimation of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) effects. Significant SNP were those with a -log10 P-value threshold greater than 4.0. Volume, CONC, NSP, IMot, PTMot, 3HRPTMot, %NORM, PRIM, and SEC have five, three, six, seven, two, six, six, and two genome-wide significant SNP, respectively.

Conclusions: Several significant SNP were determined to be near or within quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with beef bull semen attributes. In addition, genes associated with fertility were found to contain or be near the significant SNP found in the study. The results indicate there are regions of the genome that impact fertility, proving inclusion of genomic information into genetic evaluation should be advantageous for genetic improvement of male fertility traits.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Manhattan plot showing the result of genome-wide association mapping for volume, concentration, and number of spermatozoa with a significance threshold of 4.0. A trivariate analysis was performed
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Manhattan plot showing the result of genome-wide association mapping for motility traits with a significance threshold of 4.0. A bivariate analysis was performed, thus significant SNP from both bivariate analyses are reported
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Manhattan plot showing the result of genome-wide association mapping for percentage of normal spermatozoa and abnormality traits with a significance threshold of 4.0. A bivariate analysis was performed, thus significant SNP from both bivariate analyses are reported
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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