Genome-wide association study for numbers of vertebrae in Dezhou donkey population reveals new candidate genes

Abstract

Numbers of vertebrae is an important economic trait associated with body size and meat productivity in animals. However, the genetic basis of vertebrae number in donkey remains to be well understood. The aim of this study was to identify candidate genes affecting the number of thoracic (TVn) and the number of lumbar vertebrae (LVn) in Dezhou donkey. A genome-wide association study was conducted using whole genome sequence data imputed from low-coverage genome sequencing. For TVn, we identified 38 genome-wide significant and 64 suggestive SNPs, which relate to 7 genes (NLGN1, DCC, SLC26A7, TOX, WNT7A, LOC123286078, and LOC123280142). For LVn, we identified 9 genome-wide significant and 38 suggestive SNPs, which relate to 8 genes (GABBR2, FBXO4, LOC123277146, LOC123277359, BMP7, B3GAT1, EML2, and LRP5). The genes involve in the Wnt and TGF-β signaling pathways and may play an important role in embryonic development or bone formation and could be good candidate genes for TVn and LVn.