Identification of genetic variants in Arian line and investigation of their performance using whole genome sequencing

This is the first study for discovering genetic variants in Arian line by whole genome sequencing data. The study of Arian line features at genomic level can unravel the genetic background of economic traits such as growth. In this study, the information of three whole genomes of Arian chickens were used. The results of this study indicated that, there were 63866 common variants among samples. 17604 variants Out of 63866 variants were reported as novel variants in this study. Also 604 variants are located in coding regions, which 204 out of them lead to change in the amino acid sequence of the proteins. Considering the importance of dietary protein quality for growth and weight gain for poultry, the results of gene ontology analysis indicated that the pathways of protein catabolism and post-translational modification of proteins, related to growth are considerable. Also candidate genes such as, SMURF2 and SUMO1 was suggested for these biological pathways. Another interesting result of gene ontology was the significance of response to stress pathways. In the Arian line due to intense selection, the existence of stress is inevitable. Therefore, the significance of stress response can indicate the importance of these pathways in relation to the desired performance.