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In recent decades, genetic research in cattle has largely prioritised cosmopolitan breeds and production traits, often overlooking functional and fitness-related characteristics such as longevity, fertility, and udder health. These fitness traits, although critical for animal welfare and sustainable farming, are challenging to improve due to their low heritability and complex genetic background. This study investigates the genomic architecture of three key fitness traits: longevity (LONG), fertility (measured as days open, DO), and udder health (somatic cell score, SCS)-in two local dual-purpose breeds, Alpine Grey (AG) and Rendena (RE), using a genome-wide association study (GWAS). For AG breed, 2 745 genotyped animals were considered and 2 251 from the RE breed. For LONG, 37 053 and 9 782 phenotypic records were, in AG and RE, respectively, while 30 316 (AG) and 19 822 (RE) for DO; and 113 297 (RE) and 792 921 (AG) for both SCS and milk yield. In GWAS, pseudophenotypes were utilised to address data imbalance. A total of 744 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with the three traits were identified, which were associated with 26 annotated genes explaining more than 1% of the additive genetic variance. Candidate genes significantly associated with target traits include CPEB4 (LONG in RE, SCS in both breeds), DSC2 (DO in AG, SCS in RE), LCORL (LONG and SCS in RE), PRMT8 (LONG in both breeds, MY in RE), RAPGEF6 (LONG in AG), TEAD4 (MY in RE), TSPAN9 (LONG in both), and XKR4 (DO and SCS in RE). These genes participate in vital biological functions such as spermatogenesis, mitochondrial regulation, cellular signalling, and tissue integrity, underlining their relevance in fertility, animal health, and productivity. Notably, several genes identified as significant in our study have previously been associated with both milk and beef production traits in the literature, suggesting that key functional traits related to dual-purpose performance remain detectable despite ongoing selection primarily focused on milk yield. This versatility is essential for their continued adaptability to diverse farming systems and market needs. Overall, the findings provide insights into genomic regions associated with fitness traits in local cattle breeds, emphasizing the value of integrating these traits into breeding programmes. The identification of genetic markers offers valuable opportunities to improve selection strategies that promote animal welfare and sustainable production, reinforcing the role of genetic diversity in dual-purpose local breeds within modern agriculture.
Oian et al. (Fri,) studied this question.