Chromosomal segments underlying quantitative trait loci for mohair production in Angora goats

This study reports the results obtained in the search of chromosomal regions affecting fleece traits in a population of Angora goats in the Argentinean Patagonia. Six hundred thirty-four offspring from 14 parental half-sib families were used. Nine phenotypic fleece traits were recorded at 4 and 11 months of age. A genome examination using 85 informative molecular markers was conducted. A linkage analysis was performed using a regression interval analysis. Our study identified 10 genomic regions affecting the average fibre diameter, coefficient of variation of the average fibre diameter, percentage of fibres with diameters over 30 μm, greasy fleece weight, staple length, average curvature of fibres, percentage of continuous medullated fibres and percentage of kemp fibres located on five goat chromosomes (1, 2, 5, 13 and 19). These results show that the average size of the quantitative trait loci effect was 1.6 phenotypic standard deviations for different traits and families. The aims of quantitative trait loci detection is the potential use of these molecular markers to increase accuracy in predicting the genetic merit of breeding and its implementation in animal breeding schemes through marker-assisted selection.