Genomic and gene expression associations to morphology of a sexual ornament in the chicken

0559730 - BC 2023 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Bakovic, Vid - Höglund, A. - Martin Cerezo, M. L. - Henriksen, R. - Wright, D.
Genomic and gene expression associations to morphology of a sexual ornament in the chicken.
G3-Genes, Genomes, Genetics. Roč. 12, č. 9 (2022), č. článku jkac174. ISSN 2160-1836. E-ISSN 2160-1836
Grant - others:Ministerstvo školství, mládeže a tělovýchovy - GA MŠk(CZ) LM2018140
Institutional support: RVO:60077344
Keywords : qtl * eQTL * chicken comb * domestication
OECD category: Genetics and heredity (medical genetics to be 3)
Impact factor: 2.6, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://academic.oup.com/g3journal/article-pdf/12/9/jkac174/45515660/jkac174.pdf

How sexual selection affects the genome ultimately relies on the strength and type of selection, and the genetic architecture of the involved traits. While associating genotype with phenotype often utilizes standard trait morphology, trait representations in morphospace using geometric morphometric approaches receive less focus in this regard. Here, we identify genetic associations to a sexual ornament, the comb, in the chicken system (Gallus gallus). Our approach combined genome-wide genotype and gene expression data (>30k genes) with different aspects of comb morphology in an advanced intercross line (F8) generated by crossing a wild-type Red Junglefowl with a domestic breed of chicken (White Leghorn). In total, 10 quantitative trait loci were found associated to various aspects of comb shape and size, while 1,184 expression QTL were found associated to gene expression patterns, among which 98 had overlapping confidence intervals with those of quantitative trait loci. Our results highlight both known genomic regions confirming previous records of a large effect quantitative trait loci associated to comb size, and novel quantitative trait loci associated to comb shape. Genes were considered candidates affecting comb morphology if they were found within both confidence intervals of the underlying quantitative trait loci and eQTL. Overlaps between quantitative trait loci and genome-wide selective sweeps identified in a previous study revealed that only loci associated to comb size may be experiencing on-going selection under domestication.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0338581