Farm Animal Genetic Resources Exploration and Innovation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.
BMC Genomics. 2023 May 26;24(1):285. doi: 10.1186/s12864-023-09302-8.
The genetic locus responsible for duck body size has been fully explained before, but the growth trait-related genetic basis is still waiting to be explored. For example, the genetic site related to growth rate, an important economic trait affecting marketing weight and feeding cost, is still unclear. Here, we performed genome wide association study (GWAS) to identify growth rate-associated genes and mutations.
In the current study, the body weight data of 358 ducks were recorded every 10 days from hatching to 120 days of age. According to the growth curve, we evaluated the relative and absolute growth rates (RGR and AGR) of 5 stages during the early rapid growth period. GWAS results for RGRs identified 31 significant SNPs on autosomes, and these SNPs were annotated by 24 protein-coding genes. Fourteen autosomal SNPs were significantly associated with AGRs. In addition, 4 shared significant SNPs were identified as having an association with both AGR and RGR, which were Chr2: 11483045 C>T, Chr2: 13750217 G>A, Chr2: 42508231 G>A and Chr2: 43644612 C>T. Among them, Chr2: 11483045 C>T, Chr2: 42508231 G>A, and Chr2: 43644612 C>T were annotated by ASAP1, LYN and CABYR, respectively. ASAP1 and LYN have already been proven to play roles in the growth and development of other species. In addition, we genotyped every duck using the most significant SNP (Chr2: 42508231 G>A) and compared the growth rate difference among each genotype population. The results showed that the growth rates of individuals carrying the Chr2: 42508231 A allele were significantly lower than those without this allele. Moreover, the results of the Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis supported the idea that the growth rate and birth weight had a causal effect on the adult body weight, with the growth rate having a greater effect size.
In this study, 41 SNPs significantly related to growth rate were identified. In addition, we considered that the ASAP1 and LYN genes are essential candidate genes affecting the duck growth rate. The growth rate also showed the potential to be used as a reliable predictor of adult weight, providing a theoretical reference for preselection.
负责鸭体大小的遗传基因座已被充分解释，但生长性状相关的遗传基础仍有待探索。例如，与生长速度相关的遗传位点，这是一个影响上市体重和饲养成本的重要经济性状，仍不清楚。在这里，我们进行了全基因组关联研究（GWAS），以鉴定生长速度相关的基因和突变。
在本研究中，从孵化到 120 日龄，每隔 10 天记录 358 只鸭子的体重数据。根据生长曲线，我们评估了早期快速生长阶段 5 个阶段的相对和绝对生长率（RGR 和 AGR）。RGR 的 GWAS 结果在常染色体上鉴定出 31 个显著的 SNP，这些 SNP 由 24 个蛋白质编码基因注释。14 个常染色体 SNP 与 AGR 显著相关。此外，还鉴定出 4 个共享的显著 SNP 与 AGR 和 RGR 均有关联，这些 SNP 位于 Chr2：11483045 C>T、Chr2：13750217 G>A、Chr2：42508231 G>A 和 Chr2：43644612 C>T。其中，Chr2：11483045 C>T、Chr2：42508231 G>A 和 Chr2：43644612 C>T 分别由 ASAP1、LYN 和 CABYR 注释。ASAP1 和 LYN 已经被证明在其他物种的生长和发育中起作用。此外，我们对每只鸭子使用最显著的 SNP（Chr2：42508231 G>A）进行基因分型，并比较了每个基因型群体的生长速度差异。结果表明，携带 Chr2：42508231 A 等位基因的个体的生长速度明显低于不携带该等位基因的个体。此外，孟德尔随机化（MR）分析的结果支持了生长速度和出生体重对成年体重有因果关系的观点，其中生长速度的影响更大。
在这项研究中，鉴定出 41 个与生长速度显著相关的 SNP。此外，我们认为 ASAP1 和 LYN 基因是影响鸭生长速度的重要候选基因。生长速度也有望成为成年体重的可靠预测指标，为预选择提供了理论参考。
