Construction of a large collection of small genome variations in French dairy and beef breeds using whole-genome sequences

Background In recent years, several bovine genome sequencing projects were carried out with the aim of developing genomic tools to improve dairy and beef production efficiency and sustainability. Results In this study, we describe the first French cattle genome variation dataset obtained by sequencing 274 whole genomes representing several major dairy and beef breeds. This dataset contains over 28 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and small insertions and deletions. Comparisons between sequencing results and SNP array genotypes revealed a very high genotype concordance rate, which indicates the good quality of our data. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first large-scale catalog of small genomic variations in French dairy and beef cattle. This resource will contribute to the study of gene functions and population structure and also help to improve traits through genotype-guided selection. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12711-016-0268-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.