ArticlePloS one2012
Four loci explain 83% of size variation in the horse.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 128 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
128 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 265 citations in OpenAlex.
- A multi-trait, meta-analysis for detecting pleiotropic polymorphisms for stature, fatness and reproduction in beef cattle.PLoS genetics · 2014Pooled it
- Low-Coverage Whole-Genome Sequencing Identifies Loci Associated with Birth Weight in East Friesian × Hu Crossbred Sheep.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Integrative Advances in Equine Genomics From Reference Assemblies to Evolutionary History and Key Traits.Evolutionary applications · 2026Review
- Horse genetics, archaeology, and the beginning of riding.Science advances · 2026Review
- Machine Learning-Based Genome-Wide Association Study Reveals Genetic Loci Associated with Body Measurement Traits in Yili Horses.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Impact of Mutations in theInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Unraveling the genomic architecture of hock conformation defects in Pura Raza Española horses.Journal of animal science · 2026Article
- Haplotype GWAS in Swedish warmblood horses for conformation and jumping traits.Journal of animal science · 2026Article
- Genome-wide association study reveals candidate loci on ECA1 and ECA9 for withers height in Friesian horses.Animal genetics · 2025Article
- Late Iron Age and Roman equine breeding north of the Alps: Genetic insights and cultural implications.iScience · 2025Article
- 8,000 years of wild and domestic animal body size data reveal long-term synchrony and recent divergence due to intensified human impact.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Signatures of selection detected from whole-genome sequencing indicate that the small body size in dwarf rabbit breeds is caused by polygenic effects with a few major loci.Animal genetics · 2025Article
- Leveraging genome-wide association analyses with chip and imputed data emerges potential pleiotropic region for four duck growth traits.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A genome-wide association study for recurrent laryngeal neuropathy in the Thoroughbred horse identifies a candidate gene that regulates myelin structure.Equine veterinary journal · 2025Article
- Characterizing differences in the muscle transcriptome between cattle with alternative LCORL-NCAPG haplotypes.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Comparative population genomics analysis for chicken body sizes using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms.Animal bioscience · 2025Article
- Genomic Insights into Post-Domestication Expansion and Selection of Body Size in Ponies.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Genomic insights into the genetic diversity and genetic basis of body height in endangered Chinese Ningqiang ponies.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Genomic Patterns of Homozygosity and Genetic Diversity in the Rhenish German Draught Horse.Genes · 2025Article
- Article
68 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Horse body size varies greatly due to intense selection within each breed. American Miniatures are less than one meter tall at the withers while Shires and Percherons can exceed two meters. The genetic basis for this variation is not known. We hypothesize that the breed population structure of the horse should simplify efforts to identify genes controlling size. In support of this, here we show with genome-wide association scans (GWAS) that genetic variation at just four loci can explain the great majority of horse size variation. Unlike humans, which are naturally reproducing and possess many genetic variants with weak effects on size, we show that horses, like other domestic mammals, carry just a small number of size loci with alleles of large effect. Furthermore, three of our horse size loci contain the LCORL, HMGA2 and ZFAT genes that have previously been found to control human height. The LCORL/NCAPG locus is also implicated in cattle growth and HMGA2 is associated with dog size. Extreme size diversification is a hallmark of domestication. Our results in the horse, complemented by the prior work in cattle and dog, serve to pinpoint those very few genes that have played major roles in the rapid evolution of size during domestication.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.