College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, Henan Innovative Engineering Research Center of Poultry Germplasm Resource, Zhengzhou 450002, People's Republic of China.
J Appl Genet. 2012 Nov;53(4):443-8. doi: 10.1007/s13353-012-0111-3. Epub 2012 Aug 19.
Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a cytokine that has been proposed to modulate skeletal muscle and adipose tissue mass. In the present study, an F(2) resource population of Gushi chickens crossed with Anka broilers was used to investigate the genetic effects of the chicken IL-15 gene. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (g.31224G>A and g.31266T>G) were identified in exon 5 of the IL-15 gene by means of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and DNA sequencing. Associations between the two SNPs and chicken fatness and muscle fiber traits were determined using linkage disequilibrium, haplotype construction, and association analysis. Both of the SNPs were associated with abdominal fat weight, leg muscle fiber diameter, and leg muscle fiber density (p < 0.05). Haplotypes of the two linked SNPs were associated with abdominal fat weight, fat thickness under the skin, and leg muscle fiber diameter (p < 0.05). The results suggested that the IL-15 gene might be associated with the causative mutation or the quantitative trait locus (QTL) controlling the fatness traits and muscle fiber traits in chickens.
白细胞介素-15（IL-15）是一种细胞因子，据推测它可以调节骨骼肌和脂肪组织的质量。在本研究中，利用固始鸡与安卡肉鸡杂交的 F2 资源群体，研究了鸡 IL-15 基因的遗传效应。通过聚合酶链反应-限制性片段长度多态性（PCR-RFLP）和 DNA 测序，在 IL-15 基因的外显子 5 中鉴定出两个单核苷酸多态性（SNP）（g.31224G>A 和 g.31266T>G）。通过连锁不平衡、单倍型构建和关联分析，确定了这两个 SNP 与鸡脂肪和肌肉纤维性状之间的关联。这两个 SNP 均与腹脂重、腿肌纤维直径和腿肌纤维密度相关（p<0.05）。两个连锁 SNP 的单倍型与腹脂重、皮下脂肪厚度和腿肌纤维直径相关（p<0.05）。结果表明，IL-15 基因可能与控制鸡脂肪性状和肌肉纤维性状的致病变异或数量性状位点（QTL）有关。
