highly significant− log 10 P > 5
The analysis identified 21–34 highly significant SNPs (− log 10 P > 5), with an estimated total heritability of 37.31–62.34%, while large contributions to variations was due to dominance, dominance-related epistasis, and environmental interaction effects ( h D + 2 = ^ 14.06% ~ 49.28%), indicating these factors contributed significantly to phenotypic variations of the ear traits.