Identification of Markers Associated with Birth Weight in Boer Goat

Abstract

Genetic improvement of breeding depends on selective breeding of superior phenotypes. In order to increase accuracy of breeding and selection for efficient production systems, current trend is towards applying molecular markers. The purpose of the study was to identify markers associated with birth weight in Boer goats using 50k single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip. A total of 657 Boer goats were selected based on the availability of birth weight data from a commercial farm. Individuals were genotyped using 50k SNP chip from Illumina using Illumina Genome Analyzer IIx. A genome wide association analysis using a mixed model was carried out and resulted in 32 detected markers for birth weight. In previous genotyping study done on the same population of goat using 20k custom-designed SNP chip resulted in 14 markers for birth weight. However, markers identified should be verified in an independent population before being applied in a Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) program. Further consideration should be on socioeconomic factors as well as their sustainability in biodiverse environments.