Cunming Yang, Li Bin, Mengting Zhu, Sulaiman Yiming, He Sangang, Liu Mingjun
College of Animal Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi, China.
College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Shihezi, China.
Front Vet Sci. 2025 May 29;12:1583625. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1583625. eCollection 2025.
Mutton has the advantages of delicious taste, high nutrition, and easy digestion. It is important to improve the production and quality of mutton in mutton sheep breeding. Microsatellite locus marker-assisted breeding is widely used to breed excellent traits of various species. It is important to search for microsatellite markers related to the economic traits (mutton production and fat content) of mutton sheep.
This study aimed to explore the relationship between 11 microsatellite loci of Texel × Kazakh sheep and 12 economic traits and to seek potential loci related to the mutton production (PW: Pre-slaughter weight, CW: Carcass weight, TAW: Total breast and abdomen weight, TLT: Total weight of left anterior tendon, TLL: Total weight of left hip and leg, LD: Longissimus dorsi, OMA: Ocular muscle area) and fat deposition levels (TFW: Tail fat weight, MFW: Mesenteric fat weight, KFW: Kidney fat weight, BFT: Back fat thickness and GR: GR value) of mutton sheep.
Genetic analysis of the 108 Texel × Kazakh sheep hybrid population revealed 81 alleles across all loci, with a mean number of alleles (MNA) of 7.364. The population exhibited moderate observed heterozygosity ( = 0.610), high expected heterozygosity ( = 0.785), and substantial polymorphism (polymorphism information content, = 0.759), indicating robust genetic diversity. Notably, the AMEL locus demonstrated significant associations with MFW (η = 0.319) and KFW (η = 0.347), while the INRA023 locus influenced CW (η = 0.260) (). No other loci showed statistically significant trait correlations after multiple-testing correction. The HH genotype at AMEL and AD genotype at INRA023 emerged as pivotal molecular markers, collectively explaining 26.0-34.7% of phenotypic variance in meat yield traits.
These findings establish a theoretical framework for precision breeding strategies, offering actionable solutions to enhance meat productivity in ovine populations through marker-assisted selection (MAS).
羊肉具有味道鲜美、营养丰富、易于消化等优点。在肉羊养殖中提高羊肉产量和品质至关重要。微卫星位点标记辅助育种被广泛用于培育各种物种的优良性状。寻找与肉羊经济性状（羊肉产量和脂肪含量）相关的微卫星标记具有重要意义。
本研究旨在探究特克塞尔羊×哈萨克羊的11个微卫星位点与12个经济性状之间的关系，并寻找与肉羊羊肉产量（PW：宰前体重、CW：胴体重、TAW：胸腹部总重、TLT：左前腱总重、TLL：左臀腿总重、LD：背最长肌、OMA：眼肌面积）和脂肪沉积水平（TFW：尾脂重、MFW：肠系膜脂肪重、KFW：肾周脂肪重、BFT：背膘厚和GR：GR值）相关的潜在位点。
对108只特克塞尔羊×哈萨克羊杂交群体的遗传分析显示，所有位点共发现81个等位基因，平均等位基因数（MNA）为7.364。该群体表现出中等的观察杂合度（ = 0.610）、较高的期望杂合度（ = 0.785）和丰富的多态性（多态信息含量， = 0.759），表明遗传多样性丰富。值得注意的是，AMEL位点与MFW（η = 0.319）和KFW（η = 0.347）表现出显著关联，而INRA023位点影响CW（η = 0.260）（）。经过多重检验校正后，没有其他位点显示出统计学上显著的性状相关性。AMEL位点的HH基因型和INRA023位点的AD基因型成为关键分子标记，共同解释了肉产量性状中26.0 - 34.7%的表型变异。
这些发现为精准育种策略建立了理论框架，通过标记辅助选择（MAS）为提高绵羊群体的肉生产率提供了可行的解决方案。
