Validation of genetic polymorphisms on BTA14 associated with carcass trait in a commercial Hanwoo population.

The objective of this study was to validate the association of significant SNPs identified from a previous genome-wide association study with carcass weight (CWT) in a commercial Hanwoo population. We genotyped 13 SNPs located on BTA14 in 867 steers from Korea Hanwoo feedlot bulls. Of these 13 SNPs, five SNPs, namely rs29021868, rs110061498, rs109546980, rs42404006 and rs42303720, were found to be significantly associated (P < 0.001) with CWT. These five significant markers spanned the 24.3 to 29.4 Mb region of BTA14. The most significant marker (rs29021868) for CWT in this study had a 13.07 kg allele substitution effect and accounted for 2.4% of the additive genetic variance in the commercial Hanwoo population. The SNP marker rs109546980 was found to be significantly associated with both CWT (P < 0.001) and eye muscle area (P < 0.001) and could potentially be exploited for marker-assisted selection in Hanwoo cattle. We also genotyped the ss319607402 variation, which maps to intron2 of PLAG1 gene and which is already reported to be associated with height, to identify any significant association with carcass weight; however, no such association was observed in this Hanwoo commercial population.