Peptide biomarkers used for the selective breeding of a complex polygenic trait in honey bees
Date
2017
Authors
Guarna, M. Marta
Hoover, Shelley E.
Huxter, Elizabeth
Higo, Heather
Moon, Kyung-Mee
Domanski, Dominik
Bixby, Miriam E. F.
Melathopoulos, Andony P.
Ibrahim, Abdullah
Peirson, Michael
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Scientific Reports
Abstract
We present a novel way to select for highly polygenic traits. For millennia, humans have used observable phenotypes to selectively breed stronger or more productive livestock and crops. Selection on genotype, using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and genome profiling, is also now applied broadly in livestock breeding programs; however, selection on protein/peptide or mRNA expression markers has not yet been proven useful. Here we demonstrate the utility of protein markers to select for disease-resistant hygienic behavior in the European honey bee (Apis mellifera L.). Robust, mechanistically-linked protein expression markers, by integrating cis- and trans- effects from many genomic loci, may overcome limitations of genomic markers to allow for selection. After three generations of selection, the resulting marker-selected stock outperformed an unselected benchmark stock in terms of hygienic behavior, and had improved survival when challenged with a bacterial disease or a parasitic mite, similar to bees selected using a phenotype–based assessment for this trait. This is the first demonstration of the efficacy of protein markers for industrial selective breeding in any agricultural species, plant or animal.
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Citation
Guarna, M.M.; Hoover, S.E.; Huxter, E.; Higo, H.; Moon, K.; Domanski, D.; … & Foster, L.J. (2017). Peptide biomarkers used for the selective breeding of a complex polygenic trait in honey bees. Scientific Reports, 7, article 8381. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-08464-2