Qwabe S.O., vanMarle-Köster E., Maiwashe A., Muchadeyi F.C.
Agricultural Research Council, Private Bag X2, Irene 0062, South Africa; Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, South Africa; Biotechnology Platform, Agricultural Research Council, Private Bag X5, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa
Qwabe, S.O., Agricultural Research Council, Private Bag X2, Irene 0062, South Africa, Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, South Africa; vanMarle-Köster, E., Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, South Africa; Maiwashe, A., Agricultural Research Council, Private Bag X2, Irene 0062, South Africa; Muchadeyi, F.C., Biotechnology Platform, Agricultural Research Council, Private Bag X5, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa
The BovineSNP50 genotyping array is a product with a wide range of applications in cattle such as genome-wide association studies, identification of copy number variation and investigation of genetic relationships among cattle breeds. It also holds potential for genomic selection, especially for traits that are expensive and difficult to measure. The successfulness of this chip for any of these applications depends on the degree of polymorphisms in the cattle breeds. The SNP50 array has not been validated in any South African cattle population and this could lead to overestimating the number of polymorphic SNPs available for application in it. This study is a first attemptto evaluate the Bovine64SNP50 genotyping array in the South African cattle population. Ninety six bovine samples, consisting of 45 Holstein, 29 Nguni, 12 Angus and 10 Nguni x Angus crossbred animals, were genotyped with the BovineSNP50 infinium assay. The results of this study demonstrated that 40 555 SNPs were polymorphic (MAF >0.05) in these breeds and indicate potential for application in South African cattle populations. Genomic information generated from the BovineSNP50 can now beapplied in genetic prediction, genetic characterization and genome-wide association studies.