Chicken growth traits are economically important, but the relevant genetic mechanisms have not yet been elucidated. Herein, we performed a genome-wide association study to identify the variants associated with growth traits. In total, 860 chickens from a Gushi-Anka F2 resource population were phenotyped for 68 growth and carcass traits, and 768 samples were genotyped based on the genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) method. Finally, 734 chickens and 321,314 SNPs remained after quality control and removal of the sex chromosomes, and these data were used to carry out a GWAS analysis. A total of 470 significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for 43 of the 68 traits were detected and mapped on chromosomes (Chr) 1-6, -9, -10, -16, -18, -23, and -27. Of these, the significant SNPs in Chr1, -4, and -27 were found to be associated with more than 10 traits. Multiple traits shared significant SNPs, indicating that the same mutation in the region might have a large effect on multiple growth or carcass traits. Haplotype analysis revealed that SNPs within the candidate region of Chr1 presented a mosaic pattern. The significant SNPs and pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the MLNR, MED4, CAB39L, LDB2, and IGF2BP1 genes could be putative candidate genes for growth and carcass traits. The findings of this study improve our understanding of the genetic mechanisms regulating chicken growth and carcass traits and provide a theoretical basis for chicken breeding programs.

中文翻译：

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全基因组关联研究揭示了 Gushi-Anka F2 鸡群生长性状的遗传决定性

鸡的生长性状在经济上很重要，但相关的遗传机制尚未阐明。在这里，我们进行了全基因组关联研究，以确定与生长性状相关的变体。总共对来自 Gushi-Anka F2 资源种群的 860 只鸡进行了 68 个生长和胴体性状的表型分析，并基于基因分型测序 (GBS) 方法对 768 个样本进行了基因分型。最后，在质量控制和去除性染色体后，剩下 734 只鸡和 321,314 个 SNP，这些数据用于进行 GWAS 分析。在 1-6、-9、-10、-16、-18、-23 和 -27 号染色体 (Chr) 上，共检测到 68 个性状中 43 个的 470 个显着单核苷酸多态性 (SNP)。其中，Chr1、-4、和 -27 被发现与 10 多个特征相关。多个性状共享显着的 SNP，表明该区域的相同突变可能对多个生长或胴体性状有很大影响。单倍型分析显示 Chr1 候选区域内的 SNP 呈现镶嵌模式。显着的 SNP 和通路富集分析表明 MLNR、MED4、CAB39L、LDB2 和 IGF2BP1 基因可能是生长和胴体性状的推定候选基因。本研究的结果加深​​了我们对调节鸡生长和胴体性状的遗传机制的理解，并为鸡育种计划提供了理论依据。单倍型分析显示 Chr1 候选区域内的 SNP 呈现镶嵌模式。显着的 SNP 和通路富集分析表明 MLNR、MED4、CAB39L、LDB2 和 IGF2BP1 基因可能是生长和胴体性状的推定候选基因。本研究的结果加深​​了我们对调节鸡生长和胴体性状的遗传机制的理解，并为鸡育种计划提供了理论依据。单倍型分析显示 Chr1 候选区域内的 SNP 呈现镶嵌模式。显着的 SNP 和通路富集分析表明 MLNR、MED4、CAB39L、LDB2 和 IGF2BP1 基因可能是生长和胴体性状的推定候选基因。本研究的结果加深​​了我们对调节鸡生长和胴体性状的遗传机制的理解，并为鸡育种计划提供了理论依据。