Investigation of metabolic pathways related to the QTLs of parasite resistance trait in sheep genome using gene network and gene ontology

In recent decades, advances in DNA-based marker technology and the availability of genomic data such as quantitative trait locus and the study of gene utilization through bioinformatics methods have played an important role in understanding the genetic potential of different traits. In this study, QTLs related to parasite resistance in sheep were prepared through Animal QTL database. The genes for each QTL were then obtained from the sheep reference genome in the NCBI database. Next, in order to understand the relationship between the obtained genes, gene networks for each trait were drawn using Cytoscape v3.8.0 software, and finally Cytoscape software was used to interpret gene networks and study gene ontology. The results of this study showed that there were a total of 71 QTLs for the parasite resistance trait, which included 198 genes. Most of these markers were mapped using methods such as the Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS), Regional Heritability Mapping (RHM), or Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). Ontological analysis in this study showed 20 biological pathways that four pathways contributed more than others, including: pyruvate metabolic process, antigen processing and presentation of peptide antigen via MHC class I, neural migration and cell adhesion molecule binding. In this study, the ontology of genes was investigated and the metabolic pathways associated with the parasite resistance trait in sheep were obtained through QTLs. Regarding methods and result of the current study, genes and gene ontology associated with other economic traits in sheep a well as other livestock species could be determined.