Genome-Wide Association Study for the Capacity to Skip the Dry Period in Dairy Goats

Lactation is a challenging life stage for dairy animals, as they need to cope with milk production and, in most cases, simultaneous pregnancy. The dry period between two consecutive lactations can be a producer choice, based on, for instance, animal performance or a physiological requirement when an...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bruno A. Galindo, Erin Massender, Isis C. Hermisdorff, Flavio S. Schenkel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Agriculture
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/6/622
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850093837834256384
author Bruno A. Galindo
Erin Massender
Isis C. Hermisdorff
Flavio S. Schenkel
author_facet Bruno A. Galindo
Erin Massender
Isis C. Hermisdorff
Flavio S. Schenkel
author_sort Bruno A. Galindo
collection DOAJ
description Lactation is a challenging life stage for dairy animals, as they need to cope with milk production and, in most cases, simultaneous pregnancy. The dry period between two consecutive lactations can be a producer choice, based on, for instance, animal performance or a physiological requirement when animals dry off spontaneously. The goals of this research were to estimate genetic parameters and perform a genome-wide association study in Saanen goats for the capacity to skip the dry period between lactations to identify genes and QTLs underlying this trait. A total of 249 Saanen dairy goats had the length of their dry period determined over lactations, with some (n = 54) showing the capacity to skip the dry period, i.e., having a dry period of a single day. The estimated heritability for the capacity to skip the dry period was moderate (0.25, SE = 0.13). Three SNPs significantly associated with the capacity to skip dry period were identified, which are located close to the <i>OSMR</i> gene, reported to be associated with mammary involution, and a known QTL for cannon bone circumference. The three SNPs were also confined to a very conserved region on chromosome 20, which harbors several genes associated with milk-related traits. The <i>OSMR</i> gene seems to be a good candidate gene for the capacity to skip the dry period, and the genomic region where it is located appears to also be important for milk production traits.
format Article
id doaj-art-6fba6add11eb406782af2db47cf0cb9b
institution DOAJ
issn 2077-0472
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Agriculture
spelling doaj-art-6fba6add11eb406782af2db47cf0cb9b2025-08-20T02:41:48ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722025-03-0115662210.3390/agriculture15060622Genome-Wide Association Study for the Capacity to Skip the Dry Period in Dairy GoatsBruno A. Galindo0Erin Massender1Isis C. Hermisdorff2Flavio S. Schenkel3Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaAgSights, Elora, ON N0B 1S0, CanadaDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaLactation is a challenging life stage for dairy animals, as they need to cope with milk production and, in most cases, simultaneous pregnancy. The dry period between two consecutive lactations can be a producer choice, based on, for instance, animal performance or a physiological requirement when animals dry off spontaneously. The goals of this research were to estimate genetic parameters and perform a genome-wide association study in Saanen goats for the capacity to skip the dry period between lactations to identify genes and QTLs underlying this trait. A total of 249 Saanen dairy goats had the length of their dry period determined over lactations, with some (n = 54) showing the capacity to skip the dry period, i.e., having a dry period of a single day. The estimated heritability for the capacity to skip the dry period was moderate (0.25, SE = 0.13). Three SNPs significantly associated with the capacity to skip dry period were identified, which are located close to the <i>OSMR</i> gene, reported to be associated with mammary involution, and a known QTL for cannon bone circumference. The three SNPs were also confined to a very conserved region on chromosome 20, which harbors several genes associated with milk-related traits. The <i>OSMR</i> gene seems to be a good candidate gene for the capacity to skip the dry period, and the genomic region where it is located appears to also be important for milk production traits.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/6/622dry periodOSMRlactationassociation studies
spellingShingle Bruno A. Galindo
Erin Massender
Isis C. Hermisdorff
Flavio S. Schenkel
Genome-Wide Association Study for the Capacity to Skip the Dry Period in Dairy Goats
Agriculture
dry period
OSMR
lactation
association studies
title Genome-Wide Association Study for the Capacity to Skip the Dry Period in Dairy Goats
title_full Genome-Wide Association Study for the Capacity to Skip the Dry Period in Dairy Goats
title_fullStr Genome-Wide Association Study for the Capacity to Skip the Dry Period in Dairy Goats
title_full_unstemmed Genome-Wide Association Study for the Capacity to Skip the Dry Period in Dairy Goats
title_short Genome-Wide Association Study for the Capacity to Skip the Dry Period in Dairy Goats
title_sort genome wide association study for the capacity to skip the dry period in dairy goats
topic dry period
OSMR
lactation
association studies
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/6/622
work_keys_str_mv AT brunoagalindo genomewideassociationstudyforthecapacitytoskipthedryperiodindairygoats
AT erinmassender genomewideassociationstudyforthecapacitytoskipthedryperiodindairygoats
AT isischermisdorff genomewideassociationstudyforthecapacitytoskipthedryperiodindairygoats
AT flaviosschenkel genomewideassociationstudyforthecapacitytoskipthedryperiodindairygoats