9 / 2024-08-07 21:29:13

AnimalGWASAtlas: annotation and prioritization of GWAS loci and QTLs for animal complex traits

GWAS,QTL,database structure

Genome-wide association study (GWAS) and quantitative trait locus  (QTL) identification methods provide novel perspectives and opportunities for identification of functional gene underlying phenotype formation. However, the majority of GWAS risk loci and QTLs located in non-coding regions, makes it challenging to determine the targeted protein coding genes associated with specific traits. In addition, increasing evidence indicates that not all GWAS risk loci and QTLs are functional, makes prioritization of causal sites a compelling task for biologists.

Accumulation of publicly available multi-omic data provides an unprecedented opportunity to annotate and prioritize GWAS risk loci and QTLs. Therefore, we constructed a multi-omic database for four main agricultural animals (represented by pig, sheep, cattle and chicken), integrating publicly available data resources of 140 GWAS (471 related traits) sets, 2625 QTL sets (1235 traits), 86 Hi-C sets (8 cell/tissue types), 95 epigenomic sets (4 cell/tissue types) and 769 motifs of transcription regulation factors (TFs). The database aims to match the GWAS/QTL loci located in the non-coding regions to the target genes they regulate, and prioritize functional and causal regulatory sites, which ultimately provides data resources and potential verification targets for genes and their molecular pathways related to important economic traits for agricultural animals.The database can be accessed and used at the URL https://113.54.11.20/#/HomePage.