Bi Yi, Feng Bo, Wang Zhen, Zhu Haijing, Qu Lei, Lan Xianyong, Pan Chuanying, Song Xiaoyue
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China.
Shaanxi Provincial Engineering and Technology Research Center of Cashmere Goats, Yulin University, Yulin 719000, China.
Animals (Basel). 2020 Jan 19;10(1):168. doi: 10.3390/ani10010168.
Myostatin () gene, also known as growth differentiation factor 8 (), is a member of the transforming growth factor-beta super-family and plays a negative role in muscle development. It acts as key points during pre- and post-natal life of amniotes that ultimately determine the overall muscle mass of animals. There are several studies that concentrate on the effect of a 5 bp insertion/deletion (indel) within the 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) of goat gene in goats. However, almost all sample sizes were below 150 individuals. Only in Boer goats, the sample sizes reached 482. Hence, whether the 5 bp indel was still associated with the growth traits of goats in large sample sizes which were more reliable is not clear. To find an effective and dependable DNA marker for goat rearing, we first enlarged the sample sizes (n = 1074, Shaanbei White Cashmere goat) which would enhance the robustness of the analysis and did the association analyses between the 5 bp indel and growth traits. Results uncovered that the 5 bp indel was significantly related to body height, height at hip cross, and chest width index ( < 0.05). In addition, individuals with DD genotype had a superior growing performance than those with the ID genotype. These findings suggested that the 5 bp indel in gene are significantly associated with growth traits and the specific genotype might be promising for maker-assisted selection (MAS) of goats.
肌肉生长抑制素（）基因，也被称为生长分化因子8（），是转化生长因子-β超家族的成员之一，在肌肉发育中起负向作用。它在羊膜动物出生前和出生后的生命过程中起着关键作用，最终决定动物的整体肌肉质量。有多项研究聚焦于山羊基因5'非翻译区（5'UTR）内一个5碱基对插入/缺失（indel）对山羊的影响。然而，几乎所有研究的样本量都低于150只个体。只有在波尔山羊中，样本量达到了482只。因此，在更可靠的大样本量情况下，这个5碱基对indel是否仍与山羊的生长性状相关尚不清楚。为了找到一个有效且可靠的用于山羊养殖的DNA标记，我们首先扩大了样本量（n = 1074，陕北白绒山羊），这将增强分析的稳健性，并对该5碱基对indel与生长性状进行了关联分析。结果发现，该5碱基对indel与体高、髋部十字部高度和胸宽指数显著相关（<0.05）。此外，DD基因型个体的生长性能优于ID基因型个体。这些发现表明，基因中的5碱基对indel与生长性状显著相关，并且特定基因型可能有望用于山羊的标记辅助选择（MAS）。
