235. Signatures of selection and runs of homozygosity in the genome of several fancy and meat rabbit breeds

Abstract

The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a multi-purpose species raised for meat, fiber, and fur production. It is also considered an important animal model and a companion animal, with many fancy breeds distinguished by several exterior traits. In this study, we analysed SNP array datasets from 16 fancy and meat rabbit breeds using FST analysis and runs of homozygosity (ROH) analysis. We performed FST comparisons using the windows-based approach. ROH islands were defined by evaluating the percentilebased threshold of homozygous SNPs frequency. We identified 309 genomic regions that contained putative signatures of selection. ROH islands were detected in a total of 11 autosomes, which covered about 10-20 Mb of the rabbit genome. The putative regions under selection contain genes involved in pigmentation processes and external traits (e.g. ASIP, MC1R, TYR, and LIPH). The present study contributes to clarify the genetic architecture and mechanisms that affect phenotypic differences between rabbit breeds.