Genome-wide scan to identify selection signatures and candidate genes associated with enteric methane emission and feed efficiency traits in Nellore cattle using sequencing data

• Grant number: 23/17818-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2024
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Genetics and Improvement of Domestic Animals
• Principal Investigator: Lucia Galvão de Albuquerque
• Grantee: Leonardo Machestropa Arikawa
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/10630-2 - Genetic aspects of meat production quality, efficiency and sustainability in Nelore breed animals, AP.TEM

Abstract

Sustainable animal production is a topic that has been gaining more and more notoriety due to the current global environmental and geopolitical scenario. The development of methane mitigation strategies that do not negatively affect productivity is a major challenge for nutritionists and ruminant geneticists. Furthermore, improvements in feed efficiency of beef cattle have the potential to increase farmers' profitability, as feed costs have a great economic impact on the production system, however, individual-level feed efficiency measurements are expensive and labor-intensive. Thus, the use of genomic approaches combined with whole-genome information may be an alternative to overcome these challenges. Genomic-wide association studies (GWAS) and selection signatures allow mapping and locating functional mutations that contribute to the phenotypic diversity of traits of economic interest in cattle. Therefore, the objective of this project is to use sequencing data to search for selection signatures in a total of 171 main bulls representing the Brazilian Nellore population, in order to identify genomic regions targeted by selection for economically important traits and local adaptation; and carry out GWAS for a population of Nellore animals belonging to the Centro APTA Bovinos de Corte - Instituto de Zootecnia (IZ), Sertãozinho/Brazil in order to identify genomic regions and potential candidate genes acting in biological processes and metabolic pathways of enteric methane emission and feed efficiency traits. It's expected that the results of this study provide important information for the development of efficient selection strategies to increase productivity indexes and the sustainability of the production system.