Bartz M, Kociucka B, Mankowska M, Switonski M, Szydlowski M
Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
J Anim Breed Genet. 2014 Aug;131(4):271-8. doi: 10.1111/jbg.12065. Epub 2013 Dec 20.
Pork quality depends on multiple factors, including fatty acid composition in muscle and fat tissues. The ME1 gene is a strong candidate for fat accumulation, as it encodes the malic enzyme, which is required for fatty acid synthesis. We identified seven new polymorphisms in 3'UTR of the ME1 gene and moreover confirmed the presence of 4 polymorphisms detected previously. Interestingly, the studied Duroc pigs were monomorphic at all these polymorphic sites, while in 3 other breeds (Pietrain, Polish Landrace and Polish Large White), the polymorphisms were unevenly distributed. One of the novel SNPs (c.*488A>G) was found in the Polish Large White and the Polish Landrace only, and the association studies revealed that it was significantly associated with backfat thickness and average daily weight gain in the Polish Landrace (N = 207) and the Polish Large White (N = 157). This SNP was differently associated with ME1 transcript level in muscle and backfat. The in silico analysis of another novel SNP (c.*548C>T) indicated that it is located within a binding sequence conserved among vertebrates for the miR-30 family in 3'UTR of the ME1. It was shown that in the longissimus muscle, but not in adipose tissue, CT gilts compared with CC ones had significantly lower levels of the ME1 transcript. This polymorphism, however, was not associated with production traits. Additionally, we observed that transcript level of the ME1 was significantly higher in subcutaneous fat than in the longissimus muscle, as well as both investigated tissues of the Polish Landrace when compared to the other breeds. However, no association was found between this polymorphism and fatty acid profiles. We conclude that the ME1 gene polymorphism (c.*488A>G) is a potential marker for porcine backfat thickness.
猪肉品质取决于多种因素，包括肌肉和脂肪组织中的脂肪酸组成。ME1基因是脂肪积累的有力候选基因，因为它编码苹果酸酶，而苹果酸酶是脂肪酸合成所必需的。我们在ME1基因的3'UTR中鉴定出7个新的多态性位点，此外还证实了先前检测到的4个多态性位点的存在。有趣的是，所研究的杜洛克猪在所有这些多态性位点上都是单态的，而在其他3个品种（皮特兰猪、波兰长白猪和波兰大白猪）中，多态性分布不均。其中一个新的单核苷酸多态性（c.*488A>G）仅在波兰大白猪和波兰长白猪中发现，关联研究表明，它与波兰长白猪（N = 207）和波兰大白猪（N = 157）的背膘厚度和平均日增重显著相关。这个单核苷酸多态性与肌肉和背膘中ME1转录水平的关联有所不同。对另一个新的单核苷酸多态性（c.*548C>T）的电子分析表明，它位于ME1基因3'UTR中脊椎动物间保守的miR-30家族结合序列内。结果表明，在背最长肌中，CT基因型的后备母猪与CC基因型的相比，ME1转录水平显著较低，但在脂肪组织中并非如此。然而，这种多态性与生产性状无关。此外，我们观察到，ME1的转录水平在皮下脂肪中显著高于背最长肌，并且与其他品种相比，波兰长白猪的这两个研究组织中的ME1转录水平也更高。然而，未发现这种多态性与脂肪酸谱之间存在关联。我们得出结论，ME1基因多态性（c.*488A>G）是猪背膘厚度的一个潜在标记。
