Short Communication Genome-wide association with residual body weight gain in Bos indicus cattle

Abstract

Weight gain is a key performance trait for beef cat-tle; however, attention should be given to the production costs for better profitability. Therefore, a feed efficiency trait based on per-formance can be an interesting approach to improve performance without increasing food costs. To identify candidate genes and ge-nomic regions associated with residual body weight gain (RWG), we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with 720 Nellore cattle using the GRAMMAR-Gamma association test. We identified 30 significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), especially on chromosomes 2, 8, 12, and 17. Several genes and quantitative train loci (QTLs) present in the regions identified were appointed; we highlight DMRT2 (doublesex and mab-3 related tran-scription factor 2), IFFO2 (intermediate filament family orphan 2), LNX2 (ligand of numb-protein X 2), MTIF3 (mitochondrial transla-tional initiation factor 3), and TRNAG-CCC (transfer RNA glycine anticodon CCC). The metabolic pathways that can explain part of the phenotypic variation in RWG are related to oxidative stress and muscle control.