Quantitative study of functional genetic variants for feed efficiency in Nellore cattle

• Grant number: 23/13805-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Genetics and Improvement of Domestic Animals
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Sebastián Baldi Rey
• Grantee: Miller de Jesus Teodoro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The objectives are to estimate genetic parameters and conduct Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) for feed efficiency (FE) to assess the impact of differential weighting of potential functional variants (PFVs), genes, and biological pathways on genomic prediction ability for FE in Nelore cattle. The evaluated traits will include residual feed intake (RFI), dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), residual gain (RG), and their genetic correlations. Genotypes of approximately 15,300 Nelore cattle and phenotypic records from about 20,000 animals that participated in feed efficiency trials will be used for the analyses. The single-step genomic BLUP (ssGBLUP) method will be employed to estimate variance components and genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV). Association studies will be performed using the weighted single-step (WssGWAS) method, and candidate genes from identified genomic regions will be annotated, with functional enrichment analysis of these regions conducted. Genomic prediction will be carried out by differentially weighting single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) obtained from WssGWAS and SNPs adjacent to quantitative trait loci (QTLs), expression QTLs (eQTLs), genes, and biological pathways obtained from the literature. The results of this project will allow us to assess the impact of implementing PFVs in genomic evaluation for FE in Nelore cattle.