Genomewide association studies for hematological traits and T lymphocyte subpopulations in a Duroc × Erhualian F2 resource population.

It has been shown that hematological traits can act as important indicators of immune function in both humans and livestock. T lymphocytes are key components of the adaptive immune system, playing a critical role in immune response. To identify genomic regions affecting hematological traits and T lymphocyte subpopulations, we performed both a SNP-based genomewide association study (GWAS) and a haplotype analysis for 20 hematological traits and 8 T cell subpopulations at 3 different time points (d 20, 33, and 35) in a Duroc × Erhualian F₂ inter-cross population. Bonferroni correction was used to calculate the threshold P-values for suggestive and 5% genomewide significance levels. In total, for SNP-based GWAS, we detected 96 significant SNP, including 15 genomewide-significant SNP, associated with 23 hematological traits and 234 significant SNP, including 27 genomewide-significant SNP, associated with 8 T cell subpopulations. Meanwhile, we identified 563 significant SNP, including τ genomewide-significant SNP, associated with 5 hematological traits and 2,407 significant SNP, including 1,261 genomewide-significant SNP, associated with 8 T cell subpopulations by haplotype analysis. Among the significant regions detected, we propose both the NCK adaptor protein 2 (NCK2) gene and the four and a half LIM domains 2 (FHL2) gene on SSC3 as plausible candidate genes associated with CD₈ ⁺/CD₈^- T lymphocytes at d 20. The findings provide insights into the basis of molecular mechanisms that are involved with immune response in the domestic pig and would aid further identification of causative mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]