Cited by 88Effects of Environmental Stressors on LivestockGenetic and phenotypic traits in livestockGenetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals

New Loci and Neuronal Pathways for Resilience to Heat Stress in Cattle

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Cheruiyot, Evans K., Haile-Mariam, Mekonnen, Cocks, Benjamin G., MacLeod, Iona M., Xiang, Ruidong, Pryce, Jennie E.·2021·Scientific Reports

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Abstract

Abstract Climate change and resilience to warming climates have implications for humans, livestock, and wildlife. The genetic mechanisms that confer thermotolerance to mammals are still not well characterized. We used dairy cows as a model to study heat tolerance because they are lactating, and therefore often prone to thermal stress. The data comprised almost 0.5 million milk records (milk, fat, and proteins) of 29,107 Australian Holsteins, each having around 15 million imputed sequence variants. Dairy animals often reduce their milk production when temperature and humidity rise; thus, the phenotypes used to measure an individual’s heat tolerance were defined as the rate of milk production decline (slope traits) with a rising temperature-humidity index. With these slope traits, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using different approaches, including conditional analyses, to correct for the relationship between heat tolerance and level of milk production. The results revealed multiple novel loci for heat tolerance, including 61 potential functional variants at sites highly conserved across vertebrate species. Moreover, it was interesting that specific candidate variants and genes are related to the neuronal system ( ITPR1, ITPR2, and GRIA4 ) and neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction functions for heat tolerance ( NPFFR2, CALCR, and GHR ), providing a novel insight that can help to develop genetic and management approaches to combat heat stress. Author summary While understanding the genetic basis of heat tolerance is crucial in the context of global warming’s effect on humans, livestock, and wildlife, the specific genetic variants and biological features that confer thermotolerance in animals are still not well characterized. The ability to tolerate heat varies across individuals, with substantial genetic control of this complex trait. Dairy cattle are excellent model in which to find genes associated with individual variations in heat tolerance since they significantly suffer from heat stress due to the metabolic heat of lactation. By genome-wide association studies of more than 29,000 cows with 15 million sequence variants and controlled phenotype measurements, we identify many new loci associated with heat tolerance. The biological functions of these loci are linked to the neuronal system and neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction functions. Also, several putative causal mutations for heat tolerance are at genomic sites that are otherwise evolutionarily conserved across 100 vertebrate species. Overall, our findings provide new insight into the molecular and biological basis of heat tolerance that can help to develop genetic and management approaches to combat heat stress.

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  • GRIA4 has been reported as a candidate gene for heat tolerance in Australian Holsteins, enriched in the glutamatergic synapse pathway, suggesting that GRIA4 mediates response to both cold and heat stress through thermoregulation.

    “GRIA4 has been reported as a candidate gene for heat tolerance in Australian Holsteins, enriched in the glutamatergic synapse pathway [106], suggesting that GRIA4 mediates response to both cold and heat stress through thermoregulation.”

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Authors
Cheruiyot, E. K., Haile-Mariam, M., Cocks, B. G., MacLeod, I. M., Xiang, R., & Pryce, J. E.
Affiliations
  • La Trobe University (AU)
  • Agriculture Victoria (AU)
  • The University of Melbourne (AU)
Venue
Scientific Reports
Published
2021-08-17
Volume
11
Issue
1
Pages
16619-16619
ISSN
2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3194261773
Cited by
81
References
83
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 3 · 2016: 1
FWCI
11.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • La Trobe University (cc-by)
Funders
  • DairyBio
  • Dairy Australia
  • Gardiner Foundation
  • Agriculture Victoria
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Effects of Environmental Stressors on Livestock
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals
Keywords
heat tolerance, heat stress, dairy cattle, Holstein cows, milk production decline, temperature-humidity index, genome-wide association study, novel loci, neural pathways, IP3R1, ITPR2, GRIA4, calcitonin receptor, growth hormone receptor, lactation
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Physiological, Animals, Cattle, Chromosome Mapping, Neurons, Phenotype, Heat-Shock Response, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Genome-Wide Association Study

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