Unraveling the genetic diversity of Belgian Milk Sheep using medium-density SNP genotypes.

Flemish Sheep; Friesian Milk Sheep; ROH; Sheep HapMap; admixture; effective population size; inbreeding; runs of homozygosity; single nucleotide polymorphism; Animals; Belgium; Inbreeding; Pedigree; Sheep, Domestic/genetics; Genotype; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Sheep, Domestic; Animal Science and Zoology; Genetics; General Medicine

Abstract :

[en] The present study focuses on the Belgian Milk Sheep in Flanders (Belgium) and compares its genetic diversity and relationship with the Flemish Sheep, the Friesian Milk Sheep, the French Lacaune dairy sheep and other Northern European breeds. For this study, 94 Belgian Milk Sheep, 23 Flemish Sheep and 22 Friesian Milk Sheep were genotyped with the OvineSNP50 array. In addition, 29 unregistered animals phenotypically similar to Belgian Milk Sheep were genotyped using the 15K ISGC chip. Both Belgian and Friesian Milk Sheep as well as the East Friesian Sheep were found to be less diverse than the other seven breeds included in this study. Genomic inbreeding coefficients based on runs of homozygosity (ROH) were estimated at 14.5, 12.4 and 10.2% for Belgian Milk Sheep, Flemish Sheep and Friesian Milk Sheep respectively. Out of 29 unregistered Belgian Milk Sheep, 28 mapped in the registered Belgian Milk Sheep population. Ancestry analysis, PCA and FST calculations showed that Belgian Milk Sheep are more related to Friesian Milk Sheep than to Flemish Sheep, which was contrary to the breeders' expectations. Consequently, breeders may prefer to crossbreed Belgian Milk Sheep with Friesian sheep populations (Friesian Milk Sheep or East Friesian Sheep) in order to increase diversity. This research underlines the usefulness of SNP chip genotyping and ROH analyses for monitoring genetic diversity and studying genetic links in small livestock populations, profiting from internationally available genotypes. As assessment of genetic diversity is vital for long-term breed survival, these results will aid flockbooks to preserve genetic diversity.

Disciplines :

Agriculture & agronomy

Author, co-author :

Meyermans, R ; Livestock Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

Gorssen, W ; Livestock Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

Wijnrocx, Katrien ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Animal Sciences (AS) ; Livestock Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

Lenstra, J A ; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, 3584CM, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Vellema, P ; Department of Small Ruminant Health, GD Animal Health, PO Box 9, 7400 AA, Deventer, The Netherlands

Buys, N ; Livestock Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

Janssens, S ; Livestock Genetics, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - 2472, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

Language :

English

Title :

Unraveling the genetic diversity of Belgian Milk Sheep using medium-density SNP genotypes.

Publication date :

March 2020

Journal title :

Animal Genetics

ISSN :

0268-9146

eISSN :

1365-2052

Publisher :

Blackwell Publishing Ltd, England

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

258 - 265

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fage.12891

Funders :

FWO - Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen

Funding text :

The authors would like to acknowledge the flockbooks Kleine Herkauwers Vlaanderen and Steunpunt Levend Erfgoed as well as Wouter Merckx (Zootechnical centre, KU Leuven) for the provision of blood samples and pedigree data. This project was funded by the Flemish Government: Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and by an SB PhD grant of the Research Foundation Flanders (1S37119N). The ovine SNP50 Sheep HapMap dataset used in the analyses was obtained via www.sheephapmap.org in agreement with the International Sheep Genomics Consortium Terms of Access.The authors would like to acknowledge the flockbooks Kleine Herkauwers Vlaanderen and Steunpunt Levend Erfgoed as well as Wouter Merckx (Zootechnical centre, KU Leuven) for the provision of blood samples and pedigree data. This project was funded by the Flemish Government: Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and by an SB PhD grant of the Research Foundation Flanders (1S37119N). The ovine SNP50 Sheep HapMap dataset used in the analyses was obtained via www.sheephapmap.org in agreement with the International Sheep Genomics Consortium Terms of Access.

Available on ORBi :

since 20 July 2023

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