Transcriptome-wide association study identifies candidate genomic regions for lactation persistency in Murrah buffaloes

PANKAJ  CHAYAL; VIKAS  VOHRA; SUPRIYA  CHHOTARAY; AKSHATA  PATIL; HEMLATA  VALMIKI; DAMINI  SHARMA

doi:10.56093/ijans.v96i5.178691

Authors

PANKAJ CHAYAL ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal 132 001 Haryana India
VIKAS VOHRA ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal 132 001 Haryana India
SUPRIYA CHHOTARAY ICAR- Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes, Hisar-125 001, Haryana, India
AKSHATA PATIL ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal 132 001 Haryana India
HEMLATA VALMIKI ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal 132 001 Haryana India
DAMINI SHARMA ICAR- Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes, Hisar-125 001, Haryana, India

https://doi.org/10.56093/ijans.v96i5.178691

Keywords:

Lactation persistency, Murrah, Post-peak decline rate, TWAS

Abstract

Lactation persistency is an important economic trait of dairy animals. Understanding the genetic architecture underlying lactation persistency remains a challenge, as conventional genome-wide association studies (GWAS) often lack functional interpretability. The present study aimed to identify genes associated with lactation persistency in Murrah buffaloes using a transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) approach. Test-day milk yield records from 120 Murrah buffaloes up to 245 days post-calving were used to model lactation curves using Wood’s incomplete gamma function. The post-peak decline rate was considered as a measure of lactation persistency to perform TWAS. TWAS was conducted using an already predicted gene expression panel comprising 26,956 genes. No gene-level association surpassed the Bonferroni-corrected genome-wide significance threshold or the suggestive significance threshold. Although the limited sample size reduced power for detection and no statistically significant association was observed, functional annotation of the top-ranked genes based on their lowest p-values suggested their involvement in biological processes related to mammary epithelial cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation, which are critical for maintaining milk production after peak lactation. The present exploratory analysis highlighted potential genes and pathways that may contribute to regulation of lactation persistency in buffaloes. Further validations could substantiate these genes as candidates for genetic selection in Murrah buffaloes.

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