Radiation hybrid and linkage mapping of six new type I markers in the horse.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M C T Penedo.
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A comprehensive male linkage map was generated by adding 359 new, informative microsatellites to the International Equine Gene Map half-sibling reference families and by combining genotype data from three independent mapping resources: a full sibling family created at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket, United Kingdom, eight half-sibling families from Sweden and two half-sibling families from the University of California, Davis. Because the combined data were derived primarily from half-sibling families, only autosomal markers were analyzed. The map was constructed from a total of 766 markers distributed on the 31 equine chromosomes. It has a higher marker density than that of previously reported maps, with 626 markers linearly ordered and 140 other markers assigned to a chromosomal region. Fifty-nine markers (7%) failed to meet the criteria for statistical evidence of linkage and remain unassigned. The map spans 3,740 cM with an average distance of 6.3 cM between markers. Fifty-five percent of the intervals are < or = 5 cM and only 3% > or = 20 cM. The present map demonstrates the cohesiveness of the different data sets and provides a single resource for genome scan analyses and integration with the radiation hybrid map.
Genotype data from 30 microsatellites were used to assess genetic diversity and relationships among 10 native Portuguese cattle breeds, American Charolais and the Brazilian Caracú. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was observed for all loci/population combinations except for five loci in Brava de Lide and one locus in Alentejana that exhibited heterozygote deficiency. Estimates of average observed and expected heterozygosities, total number of alleles (TNA) per breed and mean number of alleles (MNA) per locus/population were obtained. A total of 390 alleles were detected. TNA among Iberian cattle ranged from 170 to 237 and MNA ranged from 5.67 to 8.07. The highest observed heterozygosities were found in the Caracú, Maronesa, Garvonesa and Arouquesa and the lowest in Brava de Lide and Mirandesa. Estimation of population subdivision using Wright's FST index showed that the average proportion of genetic variation explained by breed differences was 9%. Neighbour-joining phylogenetic trees based on DA distances showed that the genetic relationships of present-day Portuguese native breeds are consistent with historical origins in the Brown Concave (Arouquesa, Mirandesa, Marinhoa) and Red Convex (Mertolenga, Alentejana, Garvonesa, Minhota) evolutionary groups. The Iberian Black Orthoide group, represented by Brava de Lide and Maronesa, and the Barrosã breed appeared to be more closely related to the Brown Concave group but may represent a separate lineage. The Caracú breed was not found to be closely associated with any of the native Portuguese breeds.
The quantitative assessment of genetic diversity within and between populations is important for decision-making in genetic conservation plans. In our study, we applied the livestock core set method to define the contribution of 15 cattle breeds, 11 of which are Portuguese indigenous cattle breeds, to genetic diversity. In livestock core set theory genetic diversity is defined as the maximum genetic variance that can be obtained in a random-mating population that is bred from the populations present in that core set. Two methods to estimate marker-estimated kinships to obtain the contributions to the core set were used in this study: the weighted log-linear model (WLM) and the weighted log-linear mixed model (WLMM). The breeds that contributed most to diversity in the core set were Holstein-Friesian followed by the Portuguese Mertolenga and Cachena for both WLM and WLMM methods. The ranking of relative contributions of cattle breeds was maintained when we considered only the Portuguese cattle breeds. Furthermore, we were able to identify the marginal contributions and respective losses of diversity for each of the 11 Portuguese cattle breeds when we considered a subset of populations that are not threatened of being lost (the Safe set composed of the four exotic breeds present in this study). When WLM was used losses in genetic diversity ranged from 2.68 to 0.65% while the loss in founder genome equivalents ranged from 37.37 to 8.43% for Mertolenga and Brava de Lide breeds respectively. When WLMM was used losses in genetic diversity and founder genome equivalents were less extreme than for the WLM method, ranging from 1.27 to 0.69 and 26.8 to 12.99 respectively.
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The progressive loss of colour in the hair of grey horses is controlled by a dominantly inherited allele at the Grey locus (GG). In this study, two paternal Quarter Horse (QH) families segregating for the GG allele were genotyped with a set of 101 microsatellite markers spanning the 31 autosomes and the X chromosome. This genome scan demonstrated linkage of Grey to COR018 (RF=0.02, LOD=12.04) on horse chromosome 25 (ECA25). Further chromosome-specific analysis of seven total QH families confirmed the linkage of Grey to a group of ECA25 markers and the map order of NVHEQ43-(0.24)-UCDEQ405-(0.09)-COR080-(0.05)-GREY-(0.14)-UCDEQ464 was produced. Although G was found to be linked to TXN and COR018 in the chromosome-specific analysis, the data were not sufficiently informative to place either marker on our ECA25 map with significant LODs. Our results excluded the equine tyrosinase related protein 1 (TYRP1) and melanocyte protein 17 (Pmel17) genes as possible candidates for the grey phenotype in horses.
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Glycogen Branching Enzyme Deficiency (GBED), a fatal condition recently identified in fetuses and neonatal foals of the Quarter Horse and Paint Horse lineages, is caused by a nonsense mutation in codon 34 of the GBE1 gene, which prevents the synthesis of a functional GBE protein and severely disrupts glycogen metabolism. The aims of this project were to determine the mutant GBE1 allele frequency in random samples from the major relevant horse breeds, as well as the frequency with which GBED is associated with abortion and early neonatal death using the tissue archives from veterinary diagnostic laboratories. The mutant GBE1 allele frequency in registered Quarter Horse, Paint Horse, and Thoroughbred populations was 0.041, 0.036, and 0.000, respectively. Approximately 2.5% of fetal and early neonatal deaths in Quarter Horse-related breeds submitted to 2 different US diagnostic laboratories were homozygous for the mutant GBE1 allele, with the majority of these being abortions. Retrospective histopathology of the homozygotes detected periodic acid Schiff's (PAS)-positive inclusions in the cardiac or skeletal muscle, which is characteristic of GBED, in 8 out of the 9 cases. Pedigree and genotype analyses supported the hypothesis that GBED is inherited as a simple recessive trait from a single founder. The frequency with which GBED is associated with abortion and neonatal mortality in Quarter Horse-related breeds makes the DNA-based test valuable in determining specific diagnoses and designing matings that avoid conception of a GBED foal.