Characterization of OAR1 and OAR18 QTL associated with muscle depth in British commercial terminal sire sheep.

This study aimed at verifying previously identified QTL affecting growth and carcass traits on ovine chromosome 18 (OAR18) in Texel sheep (n = 1844), and on OAR1 in Charollais (n = 851) and Suffolk (n = 998) sheep. The QTL were investigated using regression and variance component mapping (VCA) of body weight, muscle and fat depth measurements. In addition, the mode of inheritance of the Texel OAR18 QTL was explored, using data from 4376 Texel sheep, fitting VCA models testing for additive and imprinting effects. We also simulated a 480-sheep population with different QTL imprinting models and various available levels of marker information to understand the behaviour of the VCA results under different assumed genetic models. In summary, the previously identified QTL were successfully verified using both interval mapping and VCA in the three breeds. We propose a polar overdominance mode of inheritance for the OAR18 QTL in Texel sheep, and we present methods to dissect the QTL mode of inheritance, using the Texel OAR18 QTL as an example.