Application of Linkage Disequilibrium Mapping Methods to Detect QTL for Carcass Quality on Chromosome 6 Using a High Density SNP Map in Hanwoo

The purpose of this study was to detect QTL for carcass quality on bovine chromosome (BTA) 6 using a high density SNP map in a Hanwoo population. The data set comprised 45 sires and their 427 Hanwoo steers that were born between spring of 2005 and fall of 2007. The steers that were used for progeny testing in the Hanwoo Improvement Center in Seosan, Korea, were genotyped with the 2,535SNPs on BTA6 that were embedded in the Illumina bovine SNP 50K chip. Four different linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping models were applied to detect significant SNPs for carcass quality traits; the fixed model with a single marker, the random model with a single marker, the random model with haplotype effects using two adjacent markers, and the random model at hidden state. A total of twelve QTL were detected, for which four, one, three and four SNPs were detected on BTA6 under the respective models (p<0.001). Among the detected QTL, four, two, five and one QTL were associated with carcass weight, backfat thickness, longissimus dorsi muscle area, and marbling score, respectively (p<0.001). Our results suggest that the use of multiple LD mapping approaches may be beneficial in increasing power to detect QTL given a limited sample size and magnitude of QTL effect.