Genome Wide Imputation in Canadian Beef Cattle

Abstract Text: Low-density SNP chip panels are appealing tools for reduction of genotyping costs. Imputation enables to predict missing genotypes to recreate the coverage of high density panels and it is a tool in genomic selection by allowing for more animals to be genomically evaluated and for larger training datasets. In addition, imputation could also increase power of genome-wide association studies. Several studies have been carried out in Canada, providing practical direction on the implementation of imputation strategies in dairy and beef cattle, including crossbred beef cattle. A large nation-wide project has created the core reference populations of 50k, high density, and sequence genotypes to enable accurate imputation from low density panels in the major beef breeds and composites in Canada. These reference populations associated with the developed imputation methods and pipelines will create the foundation for genomic selection through genome wide imputation in beef cattle.

Keywords: Imputation Cattle Sequence