Detection of genomic regions affecting reproductive traits in Baluchi sheep using high density markers

Genetic improvement in reproductive and growth traits is major goal in sheep breeding. In this study, we performed a genome wide association study for detection of quantitative trait loci affecting reproductive traits in Baluchi sheep. For this purpose, blood samples were collected from a total of 96 ewes and data on their reproductive traits including total litter weight at birth (TLWB), litter mean weight per lamb born (LMWLB), total litter weight at weaning (TLWW), litter mean weight of lambs at weaned (LMWLW) and number of lambs alive at six months (NLA6m) in four parity. After DNA extraction, samples were genotyped using the Illumina Ovine SNP 50K BeadChip assay. Using PLINK software, a GWA study was performed in linear (GLM) and logistic regression analyses with a model included SNPs effect and sex and number of parities as fixed effects. A total of eight SNPs were found on chromosomes 1, 4, 10, 15 and 17 at the 5% chromosome-wise significance level (P