Genome-wide evaluation of copy gain and loss variations in three Afghan sheep breeds.

Copy number variation (CNV) is one of the main sources of variation between different individuals that has recently attracted much researcher interest as a major source for heritable variation in complex traits. The aim of this study was to identify CNVs in Afghan indigenous sheep consisting of three Arab, Baluchi, and Gadik breeds using genomic arrays containing 53,862 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Data were analyzed using the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) of PennCNV software.

Genomic scans for selective sweeps through haplotype homozygosity and allelic fixation in 14 indigenous sheep breeds from Middle East and South Asia.

The performance and productivity of livestock have consistently improved by natural and artificial selection over the centuries. Both these selections are expected to leave patterns on the genome and lead to changes in allele frequencies, but natural selection has played the major role among indigenous populations. Detecting selective sweeps in livestock may assist in understanding the processes involved in domestication, genome evolution and discovery of genomic regions associated with economically important traits.