Identification of selection footprints in a brown Hanwoo (Korean cattle) population for production traits

Abstract Text: Korean cattle (Hanwoo) are categorized into breeds according to their color: brown (HW), brindle (BR) and black (JB). The HW cattle have been subjected to intensive artificial selection to improve meat production traits such as carcass weight and marbling, whereas the BR, JB, and Chinese Yanbian cattle (YB) have not been similarly selected. In this study, Rsb statistics were applied to identify recent selection signals for the production traits. We investigated each of four comparisons (HW vs BR, HW vs JB, HW vs YB, and HW vs (BR, JB, and YB combined)). Thirty one candidate regions were identified that seem to be recently changed by artificial selection in brown Hanwoo compared to the other breeds.

Keywords: Hanwoo (Korean cattle), Production traits, Selection signals