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Background: Despite the availability of genomic methods for determining the origin and divergence of domestic cattle in East Africa, particularly Ethiopia, knowledge regarding their genetic adaptability and divergence remain limited. To investigate signatures of selection Ethiopian cattle populations were genotyped with an 80K SNP array and European beef cattle breeds were also used for comparison purposes. Results: Across Ethiopian cattle populations, the mean observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.403 and 0.400, respectively. Similarly, for European cattle, observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.25 and 0.26 respectively. PCA and NJ-tree revealed a separation of Ethiopian cattle breeds from European beef breeds. NJ-tree grouped the study cattle according to their breed group with close clustering of Ethiopian cattle populations. The top 1% FST values were considered to delimit genomic regions under positive selection. Some of the candidate genes are involved in biological processes and pathways linked to meat quality attributes determined. Furthermore, some of the candidate genes are associated with tropical adaptation to heat tolerance and resistance to disease. Conclusion: The levels of genetic variation for SNPs on the Bovines GGP-80K assays obtained in this study indicate that these assays have utility for genetic studies in Ethiopian indigenous cattle breeds. The genetic distance of the indigenous Ethiopian breeds from European beef breeds coincides with existing knowledge, that European beef breeds considered under this study are artificially selected and are taurine, while Ethiopian indigenous breeds are naturally selected.

Introduction Understanding the genetic foundation of locally adapted indigenous cattle breeds is critical information for developing appropriate genetic improvement and conservation methods and initiatives. Methods To investigate breed-specific SNPs, and minor allele frequency in three Ethiopian cattle breeds Begait, (n = 40), Boran (n = 40), and Fogera (n = 43) were genotyped with a high-density 80K SNP array. Three European beef cattle breeds (Angus, n = 42), Hereford (n = 35), and Charolais (n = 37) were also used for comparison. The SNP markers were screened for a call rate of ≥ 90%, a minor allele frequency (MAF) of > 0.01, and a sample call rate of > 90%. Results The average minor allele frequency was 0.19 ± 0.17, 0.20 ± 0.17, 0.21 ± 0.17, 0.31 ± 0.13, 0.32 ± 0.12, 0.32 ± 0.13 for Angus, Herford, Charolais, Boran, Fogera, and Begait cattle, respectively. Minor allele frequency significance difference was observed between Ethiopian indigenous and European beef cattle breeds. Across the Ethiopian and European cattle breeds, a common variant minor allele frequency (≥ 0.10 and ≤ 0.5) accounted for an overall estimated 94% and 62%, of the SNPs respectively. A total of 7759 and 48 SNPs were identified as breed-specific in the Ethiopian cattle breeds and European beef cattle respectively. These specific SNPs resided with 3364 genes for Ethiopian cattle breeds and 17 genes for European beef cattle breeds. According to Gene Ontology analysis, interestingly important biological processes and pathways related to tropical adaptation were detected in Ethiopian cattle breeds. Conclusions The higher minor allele frequency and breed-specific SNPs detected in Ethiopian indigenous breeds show the presence of high genetic variability. This genetic variation in Ethiopian cattle breeds is used as a potential source for future breeding programs.

Despite the availability of genomic methods for determining the origin and divergence of domestic cattle in East Africa, particularly Ethiopia, knowledge regarding their genetic adaptability and divergence remain limited. To investigate signatures of selection and linkage disequilibrium Ethiopian cattle populations were genotyped with an 80K SNP array. European beef cattle breeds were also used for comparison purposes. Across Ethiopian cattle populations, the mean observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.403 and 0.400, respectively. Similarly, for European cattle, observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.25 and 0.26 respectively. PCA and NJ-tree revealed a separation of Ethiopian cattle breeds from European beef breeds. Similarly, NJ-tree grouped the study cattle according to their breed group with close clustering of Ethiopian cattle populations. The average r2 values were 0.22 ± 0.25, 0.23 ± 0.25, and 0.22 ± 0.25 in Boran, Begait, and Fogera, respectively. For Angus, Herford and Charolais it was 0.17 ± 0.28, 0.17 ± 0.28 and 0.18 ± 0.29, respectively. The top 1% FST values were considered to delimit genomic regions under positive selection. Some of the candidate genes are involved in biological processes and pathways linked to meat quality attributes. Furthermore, some of the candidate genes are associated with tropical adaptation to heat tolerance and resistance to disease. Significant SNP variation found in this study suggests that these markers could be useful for genetic research in Ethiopian cattle breeds.

A study was conducted with the objective to identify adaptable and chemical composition of Lablab varieties. Three Lablab Beresa-17, Gabis-55 and Local variety +were tested in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The result revealed that date of maturity was significantly (p0.05) differ among the tested varieties. The analyzed chemical compositions indicated, Beresa-17 variety had the highest in Organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and dry matter (DM) and less in acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), and total ash content (TASH) content while, Gabis-55 was highest in acid detergent lignin (ADL) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) and less in crude protein (CP) content. The local variety had the highest in neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and total ash content (TASH) and less in dry matter (DM) content than the rest varieties. The result of this study implied that Gabis-55 variety was adapted and being productive regarding the plant height, biomass yield and seed yield of each variety, which is hopeful to fill the gap of low quantity feed. In addition to the nutritional values were promising particularly the crude protein (CP), Dry matter (DM) and Organic Matter (OM) content in Beresa-17 variety. Based on its adaptability, high biomass yield, high seed yield, good CP, DM and OM of Gais -55 is recommended for further promotion in the midland of East Guji zone. © International Journal of Ground Sediment & Water, © Sun Jichao, The website is http://ijgsw.comze.com/ &nbsp

A study was conducted with the objective to identify adaptable and chemical composition of Lablab varieties. Three Lablab Beresa-17, Gabis-55 and Local variety +were tested in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The result revealed that date of maturity was significantly (p 0.05) differ among the tested varieties. The analyzed chemical compositions indicated, Beresa-17 variety had the highest in Organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and dry matter (DM) and less in acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), and total ash content (TASH) content while, Gabis-55 was highest in acid detergent lignin (ADL) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) and less in crude protein (CP) content. The local variety had the highest in neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and total ash content (TASH) and less in dry matter (DM) content than the rest varieties. The result of this study implied that Gabis-55 variety was adapted and being productive regarding the plant height, biomass yield and seed yield of each variety, which is hopeful to fill the gap of low quantity feed. In addition to the nutritional values were promising particularly the crude protein (CP), Dry matter (DM) and Organic Matter (OM) content in Beresa-17 variety. Based on its adaptability, high biomass yield, high seed yield, good CP, DM and OM of Gais -55 is recommended for further promotion in the midland of East Guji zone.