Extent of genome-wide linkage disequilibrium in Australian Holstein-Friesian cattle based on a high-density SNP panel.

BACKGROUND: The extent of linkage disequilibrium (LD) within a population determines the number of markers that will be required for successful association mapping and marker-assisted selection. Most studies on LD in cattle reported to date are based on microsatellite markers or small numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering one or only a few chromosomes. This is the first comprehensive study on the extent of LD in cattle by analyzing data on 1,546 Holstein-Friesian bulls genotyped for 15,036 SNP markers covering all regions of all autosomes. Furthermore, most studies in cattle have used relatively small sample sizes and, consequently, may have had biased estimates of measures commonly used to describe LD. We examine minimum sample sizes required to estimate LD without bias and loss in accuracy. Finally, relatively little information is available on comparative LD structures including other mammalian species such as human and mouse, and we compare LD structure in cattle with public-domain data from both human and mouse. RESULTS: We computed three LD estimates, D', Dvol and r2, for 1,566,890 syntenic SNP pairs and a sample of 365,400 non-syntenic pairs. Mean D' is 0.189 among syntenic SNPs, and 0.105 among non-syntenic SNPs; mean r2 is 0.024 among syntenic SNPs and 0.0032 among non-syntenic SNPs. All three measures of LD for syntenic pairs decline with distance; the decline is much steeper for r2 than for D' and Dvol. The value of D' and Dvol are quite similar. Significant LD in cattle extends to 40 kb (when estimated as r2) and 8.2 Mb (when estimated as D'). The mean values for LD at large physical distances are close to those for non-syntenic SNPs. Minor allelic frequency threshold affects the distribution and extent of LD. For unbiased and accurate estimates of LD across marker intervals spanning < 1 kb to > 50 Mb, minimum sample sizes of 400 (for D') and 75 (for r2) are required. The bias due to small samples sizes increases with inter-marker interval. LD in cattle is much less extensive than in a mouse population created from crossing inbred lines, and more extensive than in humans. CONCLUSION: For association mapping in Holstein-Friesian cattle, for a given design, at least one SNP is required for each 40 kb, giving a total requirement of at least 75,000 SNPs for a low power whole-genome scan (median r2 > 0.19) and up to 300,000 markers at 10 kb intervals for a high power genome scan (median r2 > 0.62). For estimation of LD by D' and Dvol with sufficient precision, a sample size of at least 400 is required, whereas for r2 a minimum sample of 75 is adequate.

Bulldog dwarfism in Dexter cattle is caused by mutations in ACAN.

Bulldog dwarfism in Dexter cattle is one of the earliest single-locus disorders described in animals. Affected fetuses display extreme disproportionate dwarfism, reflecting abnormal cartilage development (chondrodysplasia). Typically, they die around the seventh month of gestation, precipitating a natural abortion. Heterozygotes show a milder form of dwarfism, most noticeably having shorter legs. Homozygosity mapping in candidate regions in a small Dexter pedigree suggested aggrecan (ACAN) as the most likely candidate gene. Mutation screening revealed a 4-bp insertion in exon 11 (2266_2267insGGCA) (called BD1 for diagnostic testing) and a second, rarer transition in exon 1 (-198C>T) (called BD2) that cosegregate with the disorder. In chondrocytes from cattle heterozygous for the insertion, mutant mRNA is subject to nonsense-mediated decay, showing only 8% of normal expression. Genotyping in Dexter families throughout the world shows a one-to-one correspondence between genotype and phenotype at this locus. The heterozygous and homozygous-affected Dexter cattle could prove invaluable as a model for human disorders caused by mutations in ACAN.

A primary assembly of a bovine haplotype block map based on a 15,036-single-nucleotide polymorphism panel genotyped in holstein-friesian cattle.

Analysis of data on 1000 Holstein-Friesian bulls genotyped for 15,036 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has enabled genomewide identification of haplotype blocks and tag SNPs. A final subset of 9195 SNPs in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and mapped on autosomes on the bovine sequence assembly (release Btau 3.1) was used in this study. The average intermarker spacing was 251.8 kb. The average minor allele frequency (MAF) was 0.29 (0.05-0.5). Following recent precedents in human HapMap studies, a haplotype block was defined where 95% of combinations of SNPs within a region are in very high linkage disequilibrium. A total of 727 haplotype blocks consisting of > or =3 SNPs were identified. The average block length was 69.7 +/- 7.7 kb, which is approximately 5-10 times larger than in humans. These blocks comprised a total of 2964 SNPs and covered 50,638 kb of the sequence map, which constitutes 2.18% of the length of all autosomes. A set of tag SNPs, which will be useful for further fine-mapping studies, has been identified. Overall, the results suggest that as many as 75,000-100,000 tag SNPs would be needed to track all important haplotype blocks in the bovine genome. This would require approximately 250,000 SNPs in the discovery phase.

A missense mutation (c.184C>T) in ovine CLN6 causes neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis in Merino sheep whereas affected South Hampshire sheep have reduced levels of CLN6 mRNA.

The neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs, Batten disease) are a group of fatal recessively inherited neurodegenerative diseases of humans and animals characterised by common clinical signs and pathology. These include blindness, ataxia, dementia, behavioural changes, seizures, brain and retinal atrophy and accumulation of fluorescent lysosome derived organelles in most cells. A number of different variants have been suggested and seven different causative genes identified in humans (CLN1, CLN2, CLN3, CLN5, CLN6, CLN8 and CTSD). Animal models have played a central role in the investigation of this group of diseases and are extremely valuable for developing a better understanding of the disease mechanisms and possible therapeutic approaches. Ovine models include flocks of affected New Zealand South Hampshires and Borderdales and Australian Merinos. The ovine CLN6 gene has been sequenced in a representative selection of these sheep. These investigations unveiled the mutation responsible for the disease in Merino sheep (c.184C>T; p.Arg62Cys) and three common ovine allelic variants (c.56A>G, c.822G>A and c.933_934insCT). Linkage analysis established that CLN6 is the gene most likely to cause NCL in affected South Hampshire sheep, which do not have the c.184C>T mutation but show reduced expression of CLN6 mRNA in a range of tissues as determined by real-time PCR. Lack of linkage precludes CLN6 as a candidate for NCL in Borderdale sheep.

Linkage disequilibrium on chromosome 6 in Australian Holstein-Friesian cattle.

We analysed linkage disequilibrium (LD) in Australian Holstein-Friesian cattle by genotyping a sample of 45 bulls for 15 closely-spaced microsatellites on two regions of BTA6 reported to carry important QTL for dairy traits. The order and distance of markers were based on the USDA-MARC linkage map. Frequencies of haplotypes were estimated using the E-M approach and a more computationally-intensive Bayesian approach as implemented in PHASE. LD was then estimated using the Hedrick multiallelic extension of Lewontin normalised coefficient D'. Estimates of D' from the two approaches were in close agreement (r = 0.91). The mean estimates of D' for marker pairs with an inter-marker distance of less than 5 cM (n = 13) are 0.57 and 0.51, and for distances more than 20 cM (n = 44) are 0.29 and 0.17, estimated from the E-M and Bayesian approaches, respectively. The Malecot model was fitted for the exponential decline of LD with map distance between markers. The swept radii (the distance at which LD has declined to 1/e ( approximately 37%) of its initial value) are 11.6 and 13.7 cM for the above two methods, respectively. The Malecot model was also fitted using map distance in Mb from the bovine integrated map (bovine location database, bLDB) in addition to cM from the MARC map. Overall, the results indicate a high level of LD on chromosome 6 in Australian dairy cattle.

Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis in Devon cattle is caused by a single base duplication (c.662dupG) in the bovine CLN5 gene.

The neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs, Batten disease) are recessively inherited neurodegenerative disorders that affect humans and other animals, characterised by brain atrophy and the accumulation of lysosome derived fluorescent storage bodies in neurons and most other cells. Common clinical signs include blindness, ataxia, dementia, seizures and premature death. The associated genes for six different human forms have been identified (CLN1, CLN2, CLN3, CLN5, CLN6 and CLN8), and three other human forms suggested (CLNs 4, 7 and 9). A form of NCL in Australian Devon cattle is caused by a single base duplication (c.662dupG) in bovine CLN5. This mutation causes a frame-shift and premature termination (p.Arg221GlyfsX6) which is predicted to result in a severely truncated protein, analogous to disease causing mutations in human Finnish late infantile variant NCL (CLN5), and a simple genetic diagnostic test has been developed. The symptoms and disease course in cattle also matches CLN5. Only one initiation site was found in the bovine gene, equivalent to the third of four possible initiation sites in the human gene. As cattle are anatomically and physiologically similar to humans with a human-like central nervous system and easy to maintain and breed, they provide a valuable alternative model for CLN5 studies.

A first-generation metric linkage disequilibrium map of bovine chromosome 6.

We constructed a metric linkage disequilibrium (LD) map of bovine chromosome 6 (BTA6) on the basis of data from 220 SNPs genotyped on 433 Australian dairy bulls. This metric LD map has distances in LD units (LDUs) that are analogous to centimorgans in linkage maps. The LD map of BTA6 has a total length of 8.9 LDUs. Within the LD map, regions of high LD (represented as blocks) and regions of low LD (steps) are observed, when plotted against the integrated map in kilobases. At the most stringent block definition, namely a set of loci with zero LDU increase over the span of these markers, BTA6 comprises 40 blocks, accounting for 41% of the chromosome. At a slightly lower stringency of block definition (a set of loci covering a maximum of 0.2 LDUs on the LD map), up to 81% of BTA6 is spanned by 46 blocks and with 13 steps that are likely to reflect recombination hot spots. The mean swept radius (the distance over which LD is likely to be useful for mapping) is 13.3 Mb, confirming extensive LD in Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle, which makes such populations ideal for whole-genome association studies.