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- Tarekegn, Getinet Mekuriaw
(author)
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Ethiopian indigenous goats offer insights into past and recent demographic dynamics and local adaptation in sub-Saharan African goats
- 2021
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In: Evolutionary applications. - : Wiley. - 1752-4571. ; 14, s. 1716-1731
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Knowledge on how adaptive evolution and human socio-cultural and economic interests shaped livestock genomes particularly in sub-Saharan Africa remains limited. Ethiopia is in a geographic region that has been critical in the history of African agriculture with ancient and diverse human ethnicity and bio-climatic conditions. Using 52K genome-wide data analysed in 646 individuals from 13 Ethiopian indigenous goat populations, we observed high levels of genetic variation. Although runs of homozygosity (ROH) were ubiquitous genome-wide, there were clear differences in patterns of ROH length and abundance and in effective population sizes illustrating differences in genome homozygosity, evolutionary history, and management. Phylogenetic analysis incorporating patterns of genetic differentiation and gene flow with ancestry modelling highlighted past and recent intermixing and possible two deep ancient genetic ancestries that could have been brought by humans with the first introduction of goats in Africa. We observed four strong selection signatures that were specific to Arsi-Bale and Nubian goats. These signatures overlapped genomic regions with genes associated with morphological, adaptation, reproduction and production traits due possibly to selection under environmental constraints and/or human preferences. The regions also overlapped uncharacterized genes, calling for a comprehensive annotation of the goat genome. Our results provide insights into mechanisms leading to genome variation and differentiation in sub-Saharan Africa indigenous goats.
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2. |
- Tarekegn, Getinet Mekuriaw, et al.
(author)
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Genetic parameters of forage dry matter intake and milk produced from forage in Swedish Red and Holstein dairy cows
- 2021
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In: Journal of Dairy Science. - : American Dairy Science Association. - 0022-0302 .- 1525-3198. ; 104, s. 4424-4440
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- High-yielding dairy cows are often fed high proportions of cereal grain and pulses. For several reasons, it would be desirable to replace these feed sources with forage, which is not suitable for human consumption. Feeding large amounts of forage to dairy cows could also make dairy production more publicly acceptable in the future. In this study, we estimated genetic parameters for total dry matter intake (DMI), DMI from forage (DMIFor), energy-corrected milk (ECM), and ECM produced from forage (ECMFor). A total of 1,177 lactations from 575 cows of Swedish Red (SR) and Holstein (HOL) dairy breeds were included in the study. Mixed linear animal random regression models were used, with fixed effect of calving season and lactation week nested within parity 1 and 2+, fixed effect of calving year, and random regression coefficients for breeding value (up to linear) and permanent environmental effect (up to quadratic) of the cow. Heritability for DMI and DMIFor was generally higher for HOL than for SR in all-parity data and in later parities; however, the opposite was true for first parity. Heritability for DMI and DMIFor during the first 8 wk averaged 0.11 and 0.15, respectively, in all-parity data for the 2 breeds. Corresponding values for ECMFor and ECM were 0.21 and 0.29, respectively. In first parity, values were 0.32, 0.36, 0.28, and 0.51, respectively. The genetic correlation between DMI and DMIFor was high, above 0.83, and fairly constant across the lactation. The genetic correlation between ECMFor and ECM was close to unity in the later part of lactation for both breeds, but was around 0.8 in the early lactation for both breeds; it decreased for HOL to 0.54 in wk 17. The genetic correlations between DMI and ECMFor and between DMIFor and ECMFor were low and negative for HOL (absolute value similar to 0.2-0.3), but changed for SR from weakly positive in early lactation to negative values and back to positive toward the end of lactation. For most traits, the correlation between wk 1 and wk 8 into the lactation was very high; the lowest value was for DMI in HOL at 0.81. The genetic correlation between parities was rather high in the first part of the lactation. During the first 8 wk, the correlation was lower for HOL than for SR, except for ECM. We found that DMIFor and ECMFor showed reasonably large heritability, and future work should explore the possibility of genomic evaluations.
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3. |
- Tarekegn, Getinet Mekuriaw
(author)
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Mitochondrial DNA D-loop sequence analysis reveals high variation and multiple maternal origins of indigenous Tanzanian goat populations
- 2021
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In: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 11, s. 15961-15971
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Small East African (SEA) goat are widely distributed in different agro-ecological zones of Tanzania. We report the genetic diversity, maternal origin, and phylogenetic relationship among the 12 Tanzanian indigenous goat populations, namely Fipa, Songwe, Tanga, Pwani, Iringa, Newala, Lindi, Gogo, Pare, Maasai, Sukuma, and Ujiji, based on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop. High haplotype (H-d = 0.9619-0.9945) and nucleotide (pi = 0.0120-0.0162) diversities were observed from a total of 389 haplotypes. The majority of the haplotypes (n = 334) belonged to Haplogroup A which was consistent with the global scenario on the genetic pattern of maternal origin of all goat breeds in the world. Haplogroup G comprised of 45 haplotypes drawn from all populations except the Ujiji goat population while Haplogroup B with 10 haplotypes was dominated by Ujiji goats (41%). Tanzanian goats shared four haplotypes with the Kenyan goats and two with goats from South Africa, Namibia, and Mozambique. There was no sharing of haplotypes observed between individuals from Tanzanian goat populations with individuals from North or West Africa. The indigenous goats in Tanzania have high genetic diversity defined by 389 haplotypes and multiple maternal origins of haplogroup A, B, and G. There is a lot of intermixing and high genetic variation within populations which represent an abundant resource for selective breeding in the different agro-ecological regions of the country.
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4. |
- Tarekegn, Getinet Mekuriaw, et al.
(author)
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Single-step genome-wide association study uncovers known and novel candidate genomic regions for endocrine and classical fertility traits in Swedish Red and Holstein dairy cows
- 2021
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In: Livestock Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 1871-1413 .- 1878-0490. ; 253
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In a study aiming to identify candidate genomic regions associated with endocrine and classical fertility traits in Swedish Red (SR) and Holstein cows, data on 3955 lactations in 1164 SR and 1672 Holstein cows were examined. The dataset comprised milk progesterone (P4) levels (n = 341,212) in 14 Swedish herds, automatically collected and analyzed in-line using the DeLaval Herd NavigatorTM. Endocrine traits studied were: days from calving to commencement of luteal activity (C-LA), first luteal phase length (LPL), length of first inter-luteal interval, length of first inter-ovulatory interval (IOI), luteal activity during the first 60 DIM, and proportion of samples with luteal activity during the first 60 DIM. Classical fertility traits based on insemination data were also investigated, such as days from calving to last insemination and calving interval. A total of 180 SR and 312 Holstein cows were genotyped with a low-density SNP chip and imputed to 50 K. Single-step genome-wide association (ssGWAS) was used to explore candidate genomic regions associated with fertility traits. A mixed linear single-trait animal model was fitted, considering season and parity as fixed effects and animal and permanent environment as random effects. The results revealed 990 and 415 SNPs above the threshold (-log (p-value) >= 4) for SR and Holstein cows, respectively. The breeds shared only eight SNPs significantly associated with fertility traits. Annotation analysis revealed 281 SNPs located in 241 genes. Functional enrichment analysis using DAVID tools reduced the number to 80 genes, which were mediated in various biological processes and KEGG pathways in multiple functions, including folliculogenesis, embryogenesis, uterine growth and development, immune response, and ovarian cysts. Of the 80 genes, 67 were associated with fertility traits in SR cows and 13 in Holstein. Most genes were associated with LPL and IOI in SR cows, but in Holstein the only association with an endocrine trait was with C-LA. Twenty QTL regions that embedded 40 genes were associated with fertility traits in both breeds. All the QTLs detected, except at BTA2 and BTA19 are novel QTL regions that were not reported previously. These novel QTL regions embedded the candidate genes that include ARHGAP20, PHLDB1, CACNA1D, ATG7, CCNE1, GPI, CDH13, ECT2, PLD1, FBN2, KIF3A, FGF12, KCNMB2, GJA1, MAN1A1, KCNN2, SMAD6, MAPK8IP1, PHF21A, LPXN, MMRN1, KCNIP4, NID2, PCDHGA8, GRIA1, PCDHGB4, PHLDB2, STXBP5L, PPP3CA, PTPRR, SRGAP1, SNX27, SPTA1, S100A10, TBC1D20 and ITCH. The candidate regions may help to improve genetic progress in female fertility if used in selection decisions. A challenge for future research is to determine why different regions seem relevant for different traits and breeds, and the practical implications for genomic selection.
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5. |
- Tarekegn, Getinet Mekuriaw
(author)
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Typology, management and smallholder farmer-preferred traits for selection of indigenous goats (Capra hisrcus) in three agro-ecological zones in the Democratic Republic of Congo
- 2021
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In: Journal of Applied Animal Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0971-2119 .- 0974-1844. ; 49, s. 423-430
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The present study aimed to assess the typology, production management, and smallholder farmer-preferred traits in selecting indigenous goats in three agro-ecological zones (AEZs) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). Based on a structured survey, baseline data were recorded on 320 adults and unrelated does from 202 goat farms. Hierarchical clustering on principal components revealed three clusters in the goats studied well distinguished by double and triple kidding. Prolific goats mostly clustered into cluster two and three more represented by goats of South Kivu while 82.69% of goats in Tshopo were clustered into cluster one characterized by low reproductive performances. The Canonical Discriminant Analysis revealed that the body length was an important variable both to discriminate and to classify goats from the three AEZs. Goats from Kinshasa and South Kivu were not distanced while large distance was observed between goats from Kinshasa and Tshopo (F-stat, p < 0.001). While not subjected to any good management practices, goats were considered as a source of income and saving method in smallholder farmers' households. Adaptability, resistance to disease and prolificacy were preferred traits by farmers in selecting goats. These results give the first step in the decision-making towards goat improvement in DR Congo.
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