A genome-wide association study for harness racing success in the Norwegian-Swedish coldblooded trotter reveals genes for learning and energy metabolism.
BACKGROUND
Although harness racing is of high economic importance to the global equine industry, significant genomic resources have yet to be applied to mapping harness racing success. To identify genomic regions associated with harness racing success, the current study performs genome-wide association analyses with three racing performance traits in the Norwegian-Swedish Coldblooded Trotter using the 670 K Axiom Equine Genotyping Array.


RESULTS
Following quality control, 613 horses and 359,635 SNPs were retained for further analysis. After strict Bonferroni correction, nine genome-wide significant SNPs were identified for career earnings. No genome-wide significant SNPs were identified for number of gallops or best km time. However, four suggestive genome-wide significant SNPs were identified for number of gallops, while 19 were identified for best km time. Multiple genes related to intelligence, energy metabolism, and immune function were identified as potential candidate genes for harness racing success.


CONCLUSIONS
Apart from the physiological requirements needed for a harness racing horse to be successful, the results of the current study also advocate learning ability and memory as important elements for harness racing success. Further exploration into the mental capacity required for a horse to achieve racing success is likely warranted.
['Velie|Brandon D|BD|0000-0001-9359-6138', 'Fegraeus|Kim Jäderkvist|KJ|', 'Solé|Marina|M|', 'Rosengren|Maria K|MK|', 'Røed|Knut H|KH|', 'Ihler|Carl-Fredrik|CF|', 'Strand|Eric|E|', 'Lindgren|Gabriella|G|']
D000818:Animals D004734:Energy Metabolism D005260:Female D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study D006736:Horses D007858:Learning D008297:Male D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable
Performance Horse Genetic Racehorse