Search bioRxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/bioRxiv

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2025.01.28.635228

Principal Component Analysis of Major Biometric Traits and Indices of Indigenous Sheep Ewe Populations, and Relationships with their Body Weights

Weldegerima, T. M.·Araya, M.·Tesfahun, S.
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The field data collection was performed before the war (before October 2020) in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. The principal component analysis (PCA) is a grouping of variables or dimension reduction technique. The objective of this study was to characterize and identify the most underlying biometric traits and biometric indices of the indigenous sheep ewe populations, and determine the relationships of morphometric traits and morphometric indices with the body weights of the ewe populations. Sample animals of Begait (160), Rutanna (129) and Arado (156) ewe populations which totaled 445 with permanent pair of incisors (1PPI-4PPI) were randomly involved in the field data collection. Statistical Package for Social Sciences software was used for statistical data analysis. The PCA of the morphometric traits (09) extracted two principal components (PCs) in Begait ewes, two PCs in Rutanna ewes and one PC in Arado ewes, and the PCA of the morphometric indices (20) extracted five PCs in Begait ewes, six PCs in Rutanna ewes and five PCs in Arado ewes. The compact index mainly indicated that Rutanna and Begait ewes are larger in size and suitable for mutton production whilst Arado ewes are suitable for milk production. The correlations among the biometric traits and the body weights of the ewe populations were highly significantly (P<0.01) different except the correlation between body weight and rump length of Rutanna ewes (P<0.05). The biometric indices which consisted of height index, cephalic index, longitudinal pelvic index, height slope, over increase index, body ratio, foreleg length of the three ewe populations and their body weights were with little or no correlations (P>0.05). Genetic characterizations of the indigenous (Begait and Arado) and the transboundary (Rutanna) sheep populations should be complemented to confirm and distinguish the purpose of the populations.

Explore related subjects

geneticsPreprint

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Weldegerima, T. M., Araya, M., Tesfahun, S.. 2025-01-29. Principal Component Analysis of Major Biometric Traits and Indices of Indigenous Sheep Ewe Populations, and Relationships with their Body Weights. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.28.635228

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

bioRxiv2026

Generation of a transgenic cephalopod

Coleoid cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopus, and squid) are marine mollusks with elaborate nervous systems that support a diverse repertoire of complex behaviors. These include the neural control of the color, pattern, and texture of the skin, facilitating both adaptive camouflage and innate patterning that may reflect internal state. The development of transgenic cephalopods expressing fluorescent proteins, optogenetic actuators, and reporters of neural activity would contribute a new and important technology to cephalopod biology. The generation of transgenic cephalopods, however, has remained a major challenge. Here, we report the development of stable transgenic dwarf cuttlefish (Ascarosepion bandense) expressing ubiquitous nuclear-localized mScarlet, a red fluorescent protein. We evaluated multiple strategies for transgenesis, and established cuttlefish lines using both CRISPR and the transposons Sleeping Beauty and Minos. The stable expression of transgenes enabled live imaging of cell dynamics during embryonic development. The Minos transposon emerged as the most efficient transgenesis strategy and is adaptable to promoters and transgenes of choice. These strategies now enable the generation of diverse genetic tools for mechanistic studies of cephalopod biology.

genetics↗
bioRxiv2026

Large language model-based bibliometric evaluation of population descriptors in human genetics

As the use of population descriptors such as race, ethnicity, and ancestry have become increasingly common in modern genetics research, there have been growing calls to critically examine their use. Most notably, in 2023, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) published a report titled Using Population Descriptors in Genetics and Genomics Research: A New Framework for an Evolving Field, which included eight specific and actionable recommendations for researchers to implement the ethical and accurate use of population descriptors in genetic research. Here, we use the 2023 NASEM report as a benchmark to analyze the use of population descriptors in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We develop a general toolkit for large language model-based bibliometrics, operationalize the report's recommendations into an evaluation framework, and apply this framework to evaluate all 4,007 papers from the GWAS Catalog published between 2007 and 2025 with full text available on PubMedCentral. We find significant improvements in adherence to NASEM report recommendations over time. However, most improvements predate the publication of the NASEM report itself, suggesting the report functioned primarily as a synthesis of existing best practices rather than a catalyst for change. We conclude by highlighting opportunities for growth in the field of human genetics.

genetics↗
bioRxiv2026

Mitigating biases of rescaling in forward-in-time population genetic simulations

Forward-in-time population genetic simulations are widely used in evolutionary analyses, but simulating large populations and long genomic regions remains computationally demanding. To reduce this cost, parameter rescaling is widely employed, in which the original evolutionary process is approximated by one with a smaller population size and fewer generations. Recently, several studies using the SLiM simulator have raised concerns about the accuracy of this rescaling approach. In this study, we show that many of the biases reported in these studies can be mitigated by using a different simulation algorithm. These results reveal that the accuracy of parameter rescaling depends on how well the simulation algorithm preserves diffusion-limit properties under rescaling.

genetics↗