BACKGROUND Body size traits as one of the main breeding selection criteria was widely used to monitor cattle growth and to evaluate the selection response. In this study, body size was defined as body height (BH), body length (BL), hip height (HH), heart size (HS), abdominal size (AS), and cannon bone size (CS). We performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of these traits over the course of three growth stages (6, 12 and 18 months after birth) using three statistical models, single-trait GWAS, multi-trait GWAS and LONG-GWAS. The Illumina Bovine HD 770 K BeadChip was used to identify genomic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 1217 individuals. RESULTS In total, 19, 29, and 10 significant SNPs were identified by the three models, respectively. Among these, 21 genes were promising candidate genes, including SOX2, SNRPD1, RASGEF1B, EFNA5, PTBP1, SNX9, SV2C, PKDCC, SYNDIG1, AKR1E2, and PRIM2 identified by single-trait analysis; SLC37A1, LAP3, PCDH7, MANEA, and LHCGR identified by multi-trait analysis; and P2RY1, MPZL1, LINGO2, CMIP, and WSCD1 identified by LONG-GWAS. CONCLUSIONS Multiple association analysis was performed for six growth traits at each growth stage. These findings offer valuable insights for the further investigation of potential genetic mechanism of growth traits in Simmental beef cattle.

中文翻译：

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西门塔尔肉牛在三个生长阶段调节体重的基因座和候选基因的多重关联分析。

背景技术作为主要育种选择标准之一的体型特征被广泛用于监测牛的生长并评估选择反应。在这项研究中，将身高定义为身高（BH），身长（BL），臀部高度（HH），心脏尺寸（HS），腹部尺寸（AS）和大炮骨尺寸（CS）。我们使用三个统计模型，即单性状GWAS，多性状GWAS和LONG-GWAS，在三个生长阶段（出生后6、12和18个月）的过程中对这些性状进行了全基因组关联研究（GWAS）。Illumina Bovine HD 770 K BeadChip用于鉴定1217个个体的基因组单核苷酸多态性（SNP）。结果三种模型分别识别出19个，29个和10个重要的SNP。其中21个基因是有前途的候选基因，包括SOX2，SNRPD1，RASGEF1B，通过单性状分析鉴定出EFNA5，PTBP1，SNX9，SV2C，PKDCC，SYNDIG1，AKR1E2和PRIM2; 通过多性状分析鉴定出SLC37A1，LAP3，PCDH7，MANEA和LHCGR; LONG-GWAS标识的P2RY1，MPZL1，LINGO2，CMIP和WSCD1。结论在每个生长阶段对六个生长性状进行了多重关联分析。这些发现为进一步研究西门塔尔肉牛生长性状的潜在遗传机制提供了宝贵的见识。