PREDICTION OF GLOBAL AND LOCAL SIMMENTAL AND RED HOLSTEIN FRIESIAN ADMIXTURE LEVELS IN SWISS FLECKVIEH CATTLE

In this study we estimated levels of local ancestry for individuals of the Swiss Fleckvieh dairy cattle population. It is a composite breed descending from two pure breeds, Simmental (SIM) and Red Holstein Friesian (RHF). Illumina BovineSNP50 Beadchip genotyping data for a total of 500 pure and admixed animals were used for the analysis. The global ancestries estimated by Hidden Markov model were 0.68 and 0.32 for RHF and SIM respectively. Local ancestry levels investigated along chromosomes 2, 3 and 13 indicated that there were some regions across the chromosomes exhibiting substantial fluctuations in admixture. On chromosome 2, in the range of 28 to 31, 41 to 46 and 54 to 56 Mb RHF ancestry is substantially higher than average (0.77-0.78). These regions on chromosome 2 are wide, indicating recent admixture. Along the segments on chromosome 2, many QTLs related to dairy, conformation, reproduction, health and carcass traits were found. We observed sharper excess in favour of SIM on chromosome 3, whereas different regions with excess of RHF and SIM were found out on Chromosome 13. At the first part of chromosome 13, an excess of RHF was observed. Moreover, in regions between 40 and 57 Mb excess of SIM, referred to recent admixture was detected. In respect of RHF chromosome segments in admixed animals, dairy, reproduction and health QTLs were found. In positions where more Simmental segments were detected, QTLs related to meat and carcass traits as well as udder health traits were found. In conclusion, the authors believe that estimation of local admixture levels in crossbred populations can add information to the composite breeds history of selection.