Autosomal and sex-linked (co)variance components and genetic parameters for growth traits of Iranian Zandi sheep

Separation of autosomal and sex-linked direct additive genetic effects has significant role in sheep breeding programs. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the genetic parameters of autosomal and sex-linked effects for growth traits of Zandi sheep. The data set used in this study contained 7571 Zandi lambs, descendent of 220 sires and 1481 dams, which were collected from Zandi sheep breeding Station at Khojir, Tehran, Iran from 1992 to 2011. The fixed effects included of year (20 classes), season (winter and spring), sex (male or female), birth type (single or twin), and the age of dam (seven classes, 2–8 years old). The data were analyzed using REML methodology by WOMBAT software. In the most appropriate fitted model, based on Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC), the values of direct autosomal heritabilities of birth weight (BW), kleiber ratio at weaning (KR), 6-month weight (6MW), and 9-month weight (9MW) were 0.12 ± 0.03, 0.29 ± 0.05, 0.14 ± 0.04, and 0.15 ± 0.04, respectively. Furthermore, weaning weight (WW), average daily gain from birth to weaning (ADG), and 12-month weight (12 MW) showed the values of 0.19 ± 0.03 and 0.22 ± 0.03, 0.13 ± 0.05 and 0.15 ± 0.03, and 0.15 ± 0.05 and 0.18 ± 0.05, respectively. Based on the best models through all traits, estimates of the direct sex-linked heritability ranged from 0.0 (WW, ADG, KR, and 6MW) to 0.02 ± 0.03 (12MW). The average of autosomal and sex-linked breeding values (BVs) of body growth traits except KR (for autosomal) and 9MW and 12MW (for sex-linked) were greater than zero. The Pearson’s/Spearman’s correlation coefficients varied between 0.344 and 0.599/0.30 and 0.61 for autosomal and sex-linked BVs. Direct autosomal and sex-linked additive correlations for growth traits were ranged from − 0.02 (BW-KR) to 0.98 (WW-ADG) and 0.04 (KR-9 MW) to 0.99 (WW-ADG), respectively. Our results revealed that the genetic parameters related to growth traits in Zandi sheep could be more useful in selection strategies.