Exploring the genetic architecture and improving genomic prediction accuracy for mastitis and milk production traits in dairy cattle by mapping variants to hepatic transcriptomic regions responsive to intra-mammary infection

A better understanding of the genetic architecture of complex traits can contribute to improve genomic prediction. We hypothesized that genomic variants associated with mastitis and milk production traits in dairy cattle are enriched in hepatic transcriptomic regions that are responsive to intra-mammary infection (IMI). Genomic markers [e.g. single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)] from those regions, if included, may improve the predictive...