A novel transcript of MEF2D promotes myoblast differentiation and its variations associated with growth traits in chicken.

BACKGROUND

Development of skeletal muscle is closely related to broiler production traits. The myocyte-specific enhancer binding factor (MEF) 2D gene () and its variant transcripts play important parts in myogenesis.

METHODS

To identify the transcript variants of chicken gene and their function, this study cloned chicken gene and identified its transcript variants from different tissue samples. The expression levels of different transcripts of gene in different tissues and different periods were measured, and their effects on myoblast proliferation and differentiation were investigated. Variations in MEF2D were identified and association analysis with chicken production traits carried out.

RESULTS

Four novel transcript variants of were obtained, all of which contained highly conserved sequences, including MADS-Box and MEF2-Domain functional regions. Transcript was expressed specifically in muscle, and its expression was increased during embryonic muscle development. The could promote differentiation of chicken myoblasts and its expression was regulated by . The single nucleotide polymorphism g.36186C > T generated a TAG stop codon, caused MEF2D-V4 to terminate translation early, and was associated with several growth traits, especially on early body weight.

CONCLUSION

We cloned the muscle-specific transcript of and preliminarily revealed its role in embryonic muscle development.