Global genetic diversity, introgression, and evolutionary adaptation of indicine cattle revealed by whole genome sequencing

Indicine cattle, also referred to as zebu (Bos taurus indicus), play a central role in pastoral communities across a wide range of agro-ecosystems, from extremely hot semiarid regions to hot humid tropical regions. However, their adaptive genetic changes following their dispersal into East Asia from the Indian subcontinent have remained poorly documented. Here, we characterize their global genetic diversity using high-quality whole-genome sequencing data from 354 indicine cattle of 57 breeds/populations, including major indicine phylogeographic groups worldwide. We reveal their probable migration into East Asia was along a coastal route rather than inland routes and we detected introgression from other bovine species. Genomic regions carrying morphology-, immune-, and heat-tolerance-related genes underwent divergent selection according to Asian agro-ecologies. We identify distinct sets of loci that contain promising candidate variants for adaptation to hot semi-arid and hot humid tropical ecosystems. Our results indicate that the rapid and successful adaptation of East Asian indicine cattle to hot humid environments was promoted by localized introgression from banteng and/or gaur. Our findings provide insights into the history and environmental adaptation of indicine cattle.

Genome-wide diversity and admixture of five indigenous cattle populations from the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia

The Tigray region, where we found around eight per cent of the indigenous cattle population of Ethiopia, is considered as the historic centre of the country, with the ancient pre-Aksumite and Aksumite civilisations in contact with the civilisations of the Fertile Crescent and the Indian subcontinent. Here, we used whole genome sequencing data to characterise the genomic diversity, relatedness, and admixture of five cattle populations (Abergelle, Arado, Begait, Erob, and Raya) indigenous to the Tigray region of Ethiopia. We detected 28 to 29 million SNPs and 2.7 to 2.9 million indels in each population, of which 7% of SNPs and 34% of indels were novel. Functional annotation of the variants showed around 0.01% SNPs and 0.22%-0.27% indels in coding regions. Enrichment analysis of genes overlapping missense private SNPs revealed 20 significant GO terms and KEGG pathways that were shared by or specific to breeds. They included important genes associated with morphology (SCN4A, TAS1R2 and KCNG4), milk yield (GABRG1), meat quality (MMRN2, VWC2), feed efficiency (PCDH8 and SLC26A3), immune response (LAMC1, PCDH18, CELSR1, TLR6 and ITGA5), heat resistance (NPFFR1 and HTR7) and genes belonging to the olfactory gene family, which may be related to adaptation to harsh environments. Tigray indigenous cattle are very diverse. Their genome-wide average nucleotide diversity ranged from 0.0035 to 0.0036. The number of heterozygous SNPs was about 0.6-0.7 times higher than homozygous ones. The within-breed average number of ROHs ranged from 777.82 to 1000.45, with the average sum of the length of ROHs ranging from 122.01 Mbp to 163.88 Mbp. The genomic inbreeding coefficients differed among animals and breeds, reaching up to 10% in some Begait and Raya animals. Tigray indigenous cattle shared a common ancestry with Asian indicine (85.6%-88.7%) and African taurine (11.3%-14.1%) cattle, with very small, if any, European taurine introgression. This study identified high within-breed genetic diversity representing an opportunity for breeding improvement programs and, also, significant novel variants that could increase the number of known cattle variants, an important contribution to the knowledge of domestic cattle genetic diversity.

Multivariate characterization of phenotypic traits of five native cattle populations from Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Abergelle, Arado, Begait, Irob, and Raya are important native cattle populations that are well adapted to the harsh natural conditions in Tigray, Ethiopia. However, little is known about their phenotypic characteristics and inter-population variability. Understanding the phenotypic characteristics is the crucial step in an effort of maintaining genetic diversity and conserving important traits for adaptation. A total of 1650 native matured cattle from the five populations were used to investigate the phenotypic characteristics and variability based on 21 qualitative traits and 21 body measurements using uni- and multivariate, and discriminant analysis. All the qualitative traits and body measurements showed highly significant breed difference except the tail base thickness. Values for most of the body measurements were higher in Begait cattle compared to the other cattle populations. The stepwise discriminant analysis extracted eighteen variables for characterizing the female populations and thirteen variables for the male populations. The pair-wise Mahalanobis distance showed the highest morphological distance between Begait and Irob, and the closest distance between Abergelle and Irob cattle populations. High correct assignment to source population was obtained for both sexes of all breeds except Abergelle and Irob. The discriminant function graph discerned each population with no clear distinction between Abergelle and Irob. These results indicate that the five cattle populations under investigation are clustered into four distinct breeds. However, the present phenotypic characterization should be confirmed with molecular genetic diversity investigation to use as a base in their conservation, breeding, and selection strategies.

Effect of dried Sesbania sesban leaves supplementation on milk yield, feed intake, and digestibility of Holstein Friesian X Zebu (Arado) crossbred dairy cows

This experiment was conducted to investigate effect of dried Sesbania sesban leaves supplementation on milk yield, feed intake and digestibility of Holstein Frisian X Zebu (Arado) crossbred dairy cows. Twelve cows at midlactation (155.83 ± 4.49 days of lactation), second parity, and 442.21 ± 3.40 kg average live body weight were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments according to a randomized complete block design. Cows were blocked according to their daily milk yield into three blocks of four animals each. Cows were fed a basal diet (control) or a basal diet supplemented with 1.25 kg/day dried Sesbania sesban leaves, 2 kg/day dried Sesbania sesban leaves and 2.75 kg/day dried Sesbania sesban leaves on a dry matter basis for 8 weeks. Total dry matter intake, nutrient intake, milk yield, dry matter digestibility, and nutrient digestibility showed significant variation among treatments. Cows supplemented with the highest level of Sesbania sesban (2.75 kg/day) had higher total dry matter and nutrient intake. Similarly, cows supplemented with 2 and 2.75 kg/day had higher milk yield than the nonsupplemented cows (up to 11.3 and 16.2%, respectively). Digestibility was lower for the nonsupplemented cows compared to cows supplemented with 2 and 2.75 kg/day dried Sesbania sesban leaves but statistically similar to the cows supplemented with 1.25 kg/day dried Sesbania sesban leaves. Supplementation with 2.75 kg/day Sesbania sesban resulted in higher organic matter digestibility (OMD) compared to the control. Crude protein digestibility (CPD), neutral detergent fiber digestibility (NDFD), and acid detergent fiber digestibility (ADFD) were significantly affected by Sesbania sesban supplementation. The nonsupplemented cows had lower CPD, NDFD, and ADFD. These results indicate that dried Sesbania sesban leaves supplementation to dairy increases total DM intake, digestibility, and milk yield.