Genome-Wide Association Study for the Capacity to Skip the Dry Period in Dairy Goats

Bruno A. Galindo (), Erin Massender, Isis C. Hermisdorff and Flavio S. Schenkel ()
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Bruno A. Galindo: Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Erin Massender: AgSights, Elora, ON N0B 1S0, Canada
Isis C. Hermisdorff: Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Flavio S. Schenkel: Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: Lactation is a challenging life stage for dairy animals, as they need to cope with milk production and, in most cases, simultaneous pregnancy. The dry period between two consecutive lactations can be a producer choice, based on, for instance, animal performance or a physiological requirement when animals dry off spontaneously. The goals of this research were to estimate genetic parameters and perform a genome-wide association study in Saanen goats for the capacity to skip the dry period between lactations to identify genes and QTLs underlying this trait. A total of 249 Saanen dairy goats had the length of their dry period determined over lactations, with some (n = 54) showing the capacity to skip the dry period, i.e., having a dry period of a single day. The estimated heritability for the capacity to skip the dry period was moderate (0.25, SE = 0.13). Three SNPs significantly associated with the capacity to skip dry period were identified, which are located close to the OSMR gene, reported to be associated with mammary involution, and a known QTL for cannon bone circumference. The three SNPs were also confined to a very conserved region on chromosome 20, which harbors several genes associated with milk-related traits. The OSMR gene seems to be a good candidate gene for the capacity to skip the dry period, and the genomic region where it is located appears to also be important for milk production traits.

Keywords: dry period; OSMR; lactation; association studies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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