Dairy cattle

Genomic regions associated with postpartum uterine health in dairy cows under smallholder production systems in Mexico.

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Abstract

Postpartum uterine disorders are among the leading causes of reproductive and economic losses in dairy production, as they negatively affect conception rates, productivity and overall herd health. Understanding their genetic basis enables the development of selection strategies aimed at improving resilience, fertility and reproductive efficiency. The aim of this study was to find genomic variants associated with four uterine health traits in dairy cows raised in smallholder production systems.A total of 365 dairy cows were genotyped using the Axiom Bovine 100K Array®. Phenotype included retained fetal membranes (RFM), metritis (M), clinical endometritis (CE) and subclinical endometritis (SE), all recorded as binary traits (1=control, 2=case). The statistical model included the fixed effect of year-herd-season and the random additive genetic effect. Quality controls were applied in PLINK v1.9, including SNPs and genotypes with a call rate > 0.95, MAF > 0.05 and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p > 1e-4), keeping 82468 SNPs and 364 genotypes. QTL and gene searches were performed in Rstudio v4.5.1 using the Gallo package with ± 10 kb windows around significant SNPs.Using an exploratory threshold of p Regions without previously reported QTLs were also detected, suggesting potential new loci associated with RMF on BTA2:54565972, BTA5:8368121 and BTA11:45102435; with M on BTA1:62777401, BTA4:117686131, BTA10:68209255, BTA15:22623937; 23169169, and BTA17:23043010; with CE on BTA6:106816693; and with SE on BTA1:1530748, BTA12:32769866, BTA15:22623937, BTA20:21524564; 21611979, and BTA24:28407366. These regions stand for promising new genomic areas associated with postpartum uterine pathophysiology.Overall, the findings reveal biologically meaningful and multifunctional genomic regions that may support genomic selection strategies to improve uterine health and reproductive efficiency in dairy cows.

Keywords: 2026

How to Cite:

Vidals-Meza, M., Vera-Ávila, H., Ruiz-López, F., García-Ruiz, A., Villaseñor-González, F. & Durán-Aguilar, M., (2026) “Genomic regions associated with postpartum uterine health in dairy cows under smallholder production systems in Mexico.”, World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production Digital Archive 2026(1): 2287162. doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/wcgalp.24226

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