A comprehensive analysis of the genetic diversity and environmental adaptability in worldwide Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds.

BACKGROUND: To enhance and extend the knowledge about the global historical and phylogenetic relationships between Merino and Merino-derived breeds, 19 populations were genotyped with the OvineSNP50 BeadChip specifically for this study, while an additional 23 populations from the publicly available genotypes were retrieved. Three complementary statistical tests, Rsb (extended haplotype homozygosity between-populations), XP-EHH (cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity), and runs of homozygosity (ROH) islands were applied to identify genomic variants with potential impact on the adaptability of Merino genetic type in two contrasting climate zones. RESULTS: The results indicate that a large part of the Merino's genetic relatedness and admixture patterns are explained by their genetic background and/or geographic origin, followed by local admixture. Multi-dimensional scaling, Neighbor-Net, Admixture, and TREEMIX analyses consistently provided evidence of the role of Australian, Rambouillet and German strains in the extensive gene introgression into the other Merino and Merino-derived breeds. The close relationship between Iberian Merinos and other South-western European breeds is consistent with the Iberian origin of the Merino genetic type, with traces from previous contributions of other Mediterranean stocks. Using Rsb and XP-EHH approaches, signatures of selection were detected spanning four genomic regions located on Ovis aries chromosomes (OAR) 1, 6 and 16, whereas two genomic regions on OAR6, that partially overlapped with the previous ones, were highlighted by ROH islands. Overall, the three approaches identified 106 candidate genes putatively under selection. Among them, genes related to immune response were identified via the gene interaction network. In addition, several candidate genes were found, such as LEKR1, LCORL, GHR, RBPJ, BMPR1B, PPARGC1A, and PRKAA1, related to morphological, growth and reproductive traits, adaptive thermogenesis, and hypoxia responses. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive dataset that includes most of the Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds raised in different regions of the world. The results provide an in-depth picture of the genetic makeup of the current Merino and Merino-derived breeds, highlighting the possible selection pressures associated with the combined effect of anthropic and environmental factors. The study underlines the importance of Merino genetic types as invaluable resources of possible adaptive diversity in the context of the occurring climate changes.

Genomic Characterization of Local Croatian Sheep Breeds-Effective Population Size, Inbreeding & Signatures of Selection.

The Istrian (IS) and the Pag sheep (PS) are local Croatian breeds which provide significant income for the regional economy and have a cultural and traditional importance for the inhabitants. The aim of this study was to estimate some important population specific genetic parameters in IS (N = 1293) and PS (N = 2637) based on genome wide SNPs. Estimates of linkage disequilibrium effective population size (Ne) evidenced more genetic variability in PS (Ne = 838) compared to IS (Ne = 197), regardless of historical time (both recent and ancient genetic variability). The discrepancy in the recent genetic variability between these breeds was additionally confirmed by the estimates of genomic inbreeding (FROH), which was estimated to be notably higher in IS (FROH>2 = 0.062) than in PS (FROH>2 = 0.029). The average FROH2-4, FROH4-8, FROH8-16, and FROH>16 were 0.26, 1.65, 2.14, and 3.72 for IS and 0.22, 0.61, 0.75, and 1.58 for PS, thus evidencing a high contribution of recent inbreeding in the overall inbreeding. One ROH island with > 30% of SNP incidence in ROHs was detected in IS (OAR6; 34,253,440-38,238,124 bp) while there was no ROH islands detected in PS. Seven genes (CCSER1, HERC3, LCORL, NAP1L5, PKD2, PYURF, and SPP1) involved in growth, feed intake, milk production, immune responses, and resistance were associated with the found autozygosity. The results of this study represent the first comprehensive insight into genomic variability of these two Croatian local sheep breeds and will serve as a baseline for setting up the most promising strategy of genomic Optimum Contribution Selection.

Estimation of Population-Specific Genetic Parameters Important for Long-Term Optimum Contribution Selection-Case Study on a Dairy Istrian Sheep Breed.

The Istrian sheep breed has been subjected to selection for dairy traits for more than two decades. However, a detailed study of some important population-specific parameters such as effective population size (Ne) and connectedness between flocks has never been carried out. The aim of the study was to examine the above parameters in dairy Istrian sheep subjected to a national selection program. The Ne was estimated as the mean rate of increase in coancestry, and connectedness was determined using four different statistics. The Ne was estimated at 73 animals with pedigree constraints imposed on 4 equivalent generations and 3 full generations. Analysis of ΔNe ("sliding window approach") revealed a negative ΔNe indicating a progressive loss of genetic variability (ΔNeNEG≥4 = -6.6, p < 0.01; ΔNeNFG≥3 = -4.9, p > 0.05). The overall connectedness (r¯ ~ 0.0001) was below the acceptable level for unbiased ranking of the animals belonging to different flocks (ri,j  = 0.05). OCS appears to be the best option for the long-term survival (self-sufficiency) of the breed, but genetic links between flocks need to be strengthened to allow unbiased ranking of the animals based on the estimated breeding values.

The Impact of Age at First Lambing on Milk Yield and Lactation Length in a Population of Istrian Sheep under Semi-Intensive Management.

This study aimed to examine the impact of ewe's age at first lambing (AFL) on days in milk (DIM), average daily milk yield (DMY), and total milk yield (TMY). Symmetrical bimodal distribution of AFL enabled classification of maidens in those mated in the first (47%) or second year of life (53%). After accounting for all available sources of phenotypic variability with the linear mixed model for repeated records, it was estimated that AFL had a statistically significant effect only on DIM (p < 0.001). The litter size had a significant effect only on TMY (p < 0.001), while the effect of the parity was significant for all the examined traits (p < 0.001). The results of the study suggest that prolongation of age at first mating to the second year of life is not justified in dairy-orientated sheep farms. However, more evidence on this issue is needed for generalization, especially considering some other traits that can impact profitability of dual-purpose sheep farms (reproduction traits, growth rate of lambs, etc.).