Holstein is known to provide higher milk yields than most other cattle breeds, and the dominant position of Holstein today is the result of various selection pressures. Holstein cattle have undergone intensive selection for milk production in recent decades, which has left genome-wide footprints of domestication. To further characterize the bovine genome, we performed whole-genome resequencing analysis of 10 Holstein and 11 Hanwoo cattle to identify regions containing genes as outliers in Holstein, including CSN1S1, CSN2, CSN3, and KIT whose products are likely involved in the yield and proteins of milk and their distinctive black-and-white markings. In addition, genes indicative of positive selection were associated with cardiovascular disease, which is related to simultaneous propagation of genetic defects, also known as inbreeding depression in Holstein.

Holstein is one among the dairy cattle which provide higher milk yields than most other cattle breeds. Lack of high-accuracy, reliable methods for early detection of cattle pregnancy reduces overall productivity and constitutes a high economic burden to the dairy industry. The circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in exosomes could provide information and serve as potential biomarkers for livestock health and disease. However, the complexity of miRNA in response to cattle early pregnancy remains unknown. Hence, we collected blood samples of three healthy dairy cows of normal and 30 days of pregnancy, in order to further characterize the miRNA transcriptome profile. A high-throughput RNA-Seq approach detected 794 known and 2154 novel circulating miRNAs in six libraries. A total of 29 miRNAs in the 30 days of pregnancy group showed significant differences compared to the normal group. Further, bta-miR-450b, bta-miR-146b, bta-miR-26b and bta-miR-27b were up-regulated which shown to be involved in preeclampsia, immune response and mammary gland development. GO enrichment analysis showed these target genes were involved in the metabolic process, signal transducer activity, and membrane etc., while KEGG analysis showed that these genes were enriched in membrane trafficking, chromosome and associated proteins, exosome and G protein-coupled receptors pathways. These results provide an experimental basis to reveal the potential role of miRNAs as biomarkers in early diagnosis of pregnancy and other molecular functions.

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Genomic selection using high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers is used in dairy and beef cattle breeds to accurately estimate genomic breeding values and accelerate genetic improvement by enabling selection of animals with high genetic merit. This genome-wide association study (GWAS) aimed to identify genetic variants associated with beef fatty-acid composition (FAC) traits and to evaluate the accuracy of genomic predictions (GPs) for those traits using genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP), pedigree BLUP (PBLUP), and BayesR models. Samples of the longissimus dorsi muscle of 965 thirty-monthold Hanwoo steers (progeny of 73 proven bulls) were used to investigate 14 FAC traits. Animals were genotyped or imputed using two bovine SNP platforms (50K and 777K), and after quality control, 38,715 (50K) and 633,448 (777K) SNPs were subjected to GWAS and GP study using a cross-validation scheme. SNP-based heritability estimates were moderate to high (0.25 to 0.47) for all studied traits, with some exceptions for polyunsaturated fatty acids. Association analysis revealed that 19 SNPs in BTA19 (98.7 kb) were significantly associated (P < 7.89 × 10 −8) with C14:0 and C18:1n-9; these SNPs were in the fatty-acid synthase (FASN) and coiled-coil domain-containing 57 (CCDC57) genes. BayesR analysis revealed that 0.41 to 0.78% of the total SNPs (n = 2,571 to 4,904) explained almost all of the genetic variance; the majority of the SNPs (>99%) had negligible effects, suggesting that the FAC traits were polygenic. Genome partitioning analysis indicated mostly nonlinear and weak correlations between the variance explained by each chromosome and its length, which also reflected the considerable contributions of relatively few genes. The prediction accuracy of breeding values for FAC traits varied from low to high (0.25 to 0.57); the estimates using the GBLUP and BayesR methods were superior to those obtained by the PBLUP method. The BayesR method performed similarly to GBLUP for most of the studied traits but substantially better for those traits that were controlled by SNPs with large effects; this was supported by the GWAS results. In addition, the predictive abilities of the 50K and 777K SNP arrays were almost similar; thus, both are suitable for GP in Hanwoo cattle. In conclusion, this study provides important insight into the genetic architecture and predictive ability of FAC traits in Hanwoo cattle. Our findings could be used in selection and breeding programs to promote production of meat with enhanced nutritional value.

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