Effect of indel variants within the sorting nexin 29 (SNX29) gene on growth traits of goats.

The sorting nexin 29 gene () is a well-known regulator of myocyte differentiation and proliferation. In this work, two indels (17-bp and 21-bp) were identified in the goat gene, and their effects on the growth traits of 1,759 Shaanbei white cashmere (SBWC) goats were analyzed. Both indels had three genotypes [homozygote wild type (II), heterozygote (ID), and homozygote mutation (DD)] and displayed medium genetic diversity (0.25 < polymorphism information content (PIC) < 0.50) in the population. The 17-bp indel was significantly associated with chest width ( = 0.009), body weight ( = 0.021), and chest depth ( = 0.032), with the II genotype dominant. The 21-bp indel was significantly associated with chest width ( = 0.001), chest depth ( = 4.8E-5), heart girth ( = 0.007), and hip width ( = 0.002). Because the two indels were in the upstream (17-bp) and intron (21-bp) regions of the gene, transcription factor binding sites were predicted. The IRF5 and MYC could bind with the 17-bp indel and 21-bp indel sequences, respectively. This study indicates that is a promising candidate gene that can be used to improve meat production in goat breeding.