The Design of a Buffalo SNP Array and its Application in Buffalo Breeding and Research

Genomes of several buffalo breeds were sequenced, which facilitated the identification of millions of sequence variants. Based on frequencies of variants within and among buffalo breeds, 90K single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected to create a customized Affymetrix microarray that can be used to investigate the structure of buffalo populations and identify genetic mutations that correlate with important phenotypes. The genotyping panel has been tested in buffalo populations from Italy and Brazil and the SNP data has been used to compare genomic and traditional pedigree information and to identify QTLs involved in milk production.