Authors
Chunyan Luo, Marzia Yasen, Feng Bai, Geng Hao, Aminiguli Abulaizi, Lijuan Yu, Nazakaiti Ainivaner, Xinmin Ji, Yuntao Zhang, Jianguo Yu, Yanhua Zhang
Published in
Animals : an open access journal from MDPI. Volume 16. Issue 6. Mar 21, 2026. Epub Mar 21, 2026.
Abstract
The unique ecological gradients of Xinjiang have fostered a rich reservoir of genetic resources in local sheep populations. However, the population genetic structure, adaptive mechanisms to extreme environments, and the genetic basis underlying key economic traits of these breeds remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we performed whole-genome resequencing of 140 individuals from seven indigenous sheep populations-Altay, Bayinbuluke, Kazakh, Kirgiz, Bashibai, Turpan Black, and Yemule White-identifying 18,700,507 high-quality SNPs. Genetic diversity analyses revealed that all populations exhibited comparable levels of genetic diversity, with modest variation across breeds, with Turpan Black sheep exhibiting the highest observed heterozygosity (Ho = 0.3110) and proportion of polymorphic sites, whereas Kirgiz sheep showed comparatively lower values. Population structure analyses consistently indicated that geographic isolation is the primary driver of genetic differentiation, with Kirgiz sheep from the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang displaying the greatest genetic distance relative to northern Xinjiang populations. By integrating multiple selection signature detection methods-including F_ST, π ratio, and XP-CLR-we found that genes under selection in Kirgiz sheep were significantly enriched in biological pathways related to stem cell pluripotency regulation (e.g., BMPR1B), DNA repair (e.g., DDB2), and neural development, thereby elucidating their unique genetic adaptations to high-altitude environments. In contrast, Turpan Black sheep appear to cope with heat stress through mechanisms involving basal transcriptional regulation (e.g., GTF2I), maintenance of protein homeostasis (e.g., DNAJB14), and melanin biosynthesis (e.g., MC1R). Furthermore, comparative analysis of body size identified a suite of candidate genes associated with growth and development (e.g., CUX1, KIT), which are primarily involved in transcriptional regulation, protein kinase activity, and the ubiquitin-mediated proteolytic system, thereby revealing a multi-layered genetic regulatory network governing body conformation. Collectively, this study provides a comprehensive genomic framework for understanding the genetic structure, adaptive evolution, and molecular basis of economically important traits in indigenous sheep breeds from Xinjiang, offering valuable candidate targets for future functional validation and precision breeding programs.
PMID:
41897962
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Sep 2026.
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