A Genomic Scan for Detection of Selection Signatures using SNP Data in Australian Merino Sheep

Deciphering the genetic basis of phenotypic diversity is one of the main aims of biological research. Domestic animals are useful tool for making substantial progress towards this goal. Selection signatures are the regions of the genome that are functionally important and therefore have been under either natural or artificial selection. In this paper, a whole genome scan was performed using 3000 individuals, ~50000 SNP markers from nine populations of Australian Merino sheep, with the aim of identifying divergently selected regions of the genome. Five genomic regions on 4 chromosomes were identified as putatively harboring selective sweeps. These regions were located on chromosomes 6, 7, 11 (two areas) and 26. These selected genomic regions were surveyed to find encoding putative candidate genes and 9 genes were extracted from areas Ovine Genome v3.1 Assembly.Study of the reported QTL in these regions of the sheep genome showed that they overlapped with QTL of economically important traits such as carcass yield, growth and wool traits. Further investigation of these regions in validation studies will help to identify the candidate genes for economically important traits in sheep breeds.