Fine mapping of milk production QTL on BTA6 by combined linkage and linkage disequilibrium analysis.

Combined linkage and linkage disequilibrium analysis were used to refine the position of a previously detected QTL affecting milk production traits on bovine chromosome 6. Through a series of single- and multitrait and single- and multipoint QTL analyses, the QTL could be positioned to a 7.5-cM interval surrounded by the markers BMS2508 and FBN12. The most significant results were found for fat percentage and protein percentage. This effect seemed to be caused by a QTL allele embedded in one specific marker haplotype that caused a reduction in fat and protein yields and a concomitant increase of milk yield, thus resulting in a marked reduction of fat and protein percentages.

Olsen HG ，Lien S ，Svendsen M ，Nilsen H ，Roseth A ，Aasland Opsal M ，Meuwissen TH ... -  《JOURNAL OF DAIRY SCIENCE》

Mapping of a milk production quantitative trait locus to a 420-kb region on bovine chromosome 6.

A QTL affecting milk production traits was previously mapped to an interval of 7.5 cM on chromosome 6 in Norwegian dairy cattle. This article aimed to refine this position by increasing the map density in the region by a set of single-nucleotide polymorphisms and analyzing the data with a combined linkage and linkage disequilibrium approach. Through a series of single- and multitrait and single- and multipoint analyses, the QTL was positioned to an interval surrounded by the genes ABCG2 and LAP3. As no recombinations were detected in this interval, physical mapping was required for further refining. By using radiation hybrid mapping as well as BAC clones, the bovine and human comparative maps in the region are resolved, and the QTL is mapped within a distance of 420 kb.

Olsen HG ，Lien S ，Gautier M ，Nilsen H ，Roseth A ，Berg PR ，Sundsaasen KK ，Svendsen M ，Meuwissen TH ... -  《GENETICS》

Detection of quantitative trait loci influencing dairy traits using a model for longitudinal data.

A longitudinal-linkage analysis approach was developed and applied to an outbred population. Nonlinear mixed-effects models were used to describe the lactation patterns and were extended to include marker information following single-marker and interval mapping models. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting the shape and scale of lactation curves for production and health traits in dairy cattle were mapped in three U.S. Holstein families (Dairy Bull DNA Repository families one, four, and five) using the granddaughter design. Information on 81 informative markers on six Bos taurus autosomes (BTA) was combined with milk yield, fat, and protein percentage and somatic cell score (SCS) test-day records. Six percent of the single-marker tests surpassed the experiment-wise significance threshold. Marker BL41 on BTA3 was associated with decrease in milk yield during mid-lactation in family one. The scale and shape of the protein percentage lactation curve in family four varied with BMC4203 (BTA6) allele that the son received from the grandsire. Some map locations were associated with variation in the lactation pattern of multiple traits. In family four, the marker HUJI177 (BTA3) was associated with changes in the milk yield and protein percentage curves suggesting a QTL with pleiotropic effects or multiple QTL in the region. The interval mapping model uncovered a QTL on BTA7 associated with variation in milk-yield pattern in family four and a QTL on BTA21 affecting SCS in family five. The developed approach can be extended to random regressions, covariance functions, spline, gametic and variance component models. The results from the longitudinal-QTL approach will help to understand the genetic factors acting at different stages of lactation and will assist in positional candidate gene research. Identified positions can be incorporated into marker-assisted selection decisions to alter the persistency and peak production or the fluctuation of SCS during a lactation.

Rodriguez-Zas SL ，Southey BR ，Heyen DW ，Lewin HA ... -  《JOURNAL OF DAIRY SCIENCE》

Search for pleiotropic QTL on chromosome BTA6 affecting yield traits of milk production.

The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether previous findings of similar quantitative trait loci (QTL) positions for correlated yield traits are due to a pleiotropic QTL. We applied a multitrait variance component based QTL mapping method to a dataset involving five granddaughter families from the German Holstein dairy cattle population. The marker map contained 16 microsatellite markers, distributed across chromosome BTA6. A chromosomewise significance threshold was used, because BTA6 is known to harbor QTL for several milk traits. To evaluate the results from the multivariate, across-family analysis, we also conducted single-family analyses using the least squares method of QTL estimation. The results provided two significant QTL findings at 49 and 64 cM for milk yield in different families and putative QTL at 68 cM for fat yield and at 71 cM for protein yield in another family. The results for fat and protein yield were confirmed by a univariate, across-family variance components analysis. The multivariate analysis of three bivariate trait combinations resulted in a significant pleiotropic QTL finding at 68 cM for fat yield and protein yield, bracketed by markers TGLA37 and FBN13. The estimates of variance contribution due to this QTL were 23% and 25%, respectively.

Freyer G ，Sørensen P ，Kühn C ，Weikard R ，Hoeschele I ... -  《JOURNAL OF DAIRY SCIENCE》

A mammary gland EST showing linkage disequilibrium to a milk production QTL on bovine Chromosome 14.

As part of a genome scan, ESTs derived from mammary gland tissue of a lactating cow were used as candidate genes for quantitative trait loci (QTL), affecting milk production traits. Resource families were genotyped with 247 microsatellite markers and 4 polymorphic ESTs. It was shown by linkage analysis that one of these ESTs, KIEL_E8, mapped to the centromeric region of bovine Chromosome (Chr) 14. Regression analysis revealed the presence of a QTL, with significant effect on milk production, in this chromosome region, and analysis of variance showed no significant interaction of marker genotype and family. The estimated significant differences between homozygous marker genotypes were 140 kg milk, -5.02 kg fat yield, and 2.58 kg protein yield for the first 100 days of lactation. Thus, there was strong evidence for a complete or nearly complete linkage disequilibrium between KIEL_E8 and the QTL. To identify the biological function of KIEL_E8, we extended the sequence for 869 bp by 5'-RACE. A 560-bp fragment of this shows a 90.9% similarity to a gene encoding a cysteine- and histidine-rich cytoplasmic protein in mouse. Although such a protein may have a regulatory function for lactation and a linkage disequilibrium between the EST marker and the QTL has been observed, it remains to be elucidated whether they are identical or not. Nevertheless, KIEL_E8 will be an efficient marker to perform marker-assisted selection in the Holstein-Friesian population.

Looft C ，Reinsch N ，Karall-Albrecht C ，Paul S ，Brink M ，Thomsen H ，Brockmann G ，Kühn C ，Schwerin M ，Kalm E ... -  《MAMMALIAN GENOME》