Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and Iranian Society of Animal Science Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies 2322-3553 8 2 2020 12 01 Genome-wide association study and gene ontology for growth and wool characteristics in Zandi sheep 45 55 2752 10.22103/jlst.2020.15795.1317 EN Hossein Mohammadi Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran. Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arak University, Arak, Markazi, Iran. Seyed Abbas Rafat Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran. Hossein Moradi Shahrbabak Department of Animal Sciences, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Alborz, Iran. Jalil Shodja Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran. Mohammad Hossein Moradi Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arak University, Arak, Markazi, Iran. Journal Article 2020 04 24 Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) is a major procedure for studying the genetics of complex economically important traits in sheep. The objective of this study was to determine the genomic regions affecting some growth traits and wool characteristics in Zandi sheep. This study is GWAS implementing a medium-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panel to determine the putative chromosome area affecting some growth and wool traits in a fat-tailed sheep breed, simultaneously. We used a selective genomic approach sampling DNA from animals at the extreme ends using the estimated breeding values derived from a total population size of over 5,000 animals. The examined phenotypic data included the birth weight, weaning weight, 6, 9, and 12-months after birth weight, pre- and post-weaning average daily gain, fiber diameter (micron), prickle factor (%), staple length (mm), kemp (%) and medullated fiber. Genome-wide association analyses were performed based on the mixed linear model. Twenty-three regions, in which four were associated with more than one trait, located on 12 chromosomeswere associated with the studied growth and wool traits (<em>p </em><­5×10⁻⁶). These genomic regions overlapping with <em>KCNIP4, PPARGC1A, ASAP1, ANK2, WWOX, SYNE1, FBXO5, AKAP6, FABP3, ANGPTL4, ATP6V1B2, PARK2, and KRTAP11-1 </em>genes, were associated with postnatal growth, regulation of metabolic pathways, skeletal muscle differentiation, and bone growth. Gene ontology term enrichment analysis revealed that genes involved in positive regulation of muscle structure, and muscle tissue development were over-represented in the identified candidate genes. https://lst.uk.ac.ir/article_2752_63ae66ffa925cee9cf172f9b32a28d86.pdf