DETECTION OF CANDIDATE GENES ASSOCIATED WITH MILK PRODUCTION TRAITS IN EGYPTIAN BUFFALO

Abstract

Genomic determinants associate with a trait variation are an important part for sustainable improvement. So far, very limited information is available for understanding genetic architecture underlying milk production traits in Egyptian buffalo. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to identify genomic regions and detect potential candidate genes associated with seven milk production traits; daily milk yield, fat percentage, fat yield, protein percentage, protein yield, lactose percentage and lactose yield in Egyptian buffalo. The original data consisted of 177,995 daily milk records from 1,992 multiparous Egyptian buffalo cows belonging to eleven herds. To ensure homogenous dataset, a number of quality criteria have been set and applied to animals and phenotypes. After quality check, filtered data were included 161,479 daily milk records (DMY) from 1,670 animals. Regarding milk composition, a total number of 60,318 monthly measures from 1481 animals for fat percentage (FP), protein percentage (PP), lactose percentage (LP) and their yields were used.