Farm-animal species play crucial roles in satisfying demands for meat on a global scale, and they are genetically being developed to enhance the efficiency of meat production. In particular, one of the important breeders’ aims is to increase skeletal muscle growth in farm animals. The enhancement of muscle development and growth is crucial to meet consumers’ demands regarding meat quality. Fetal skeletal muscle development involves myogenesis (with myoblast proliferation, differentiation, and fusion), fibrogenesis, and adipogenesis. Typically, myogenesis is regulated by a convoluted network of intrinsic and extrinsic factors monitored by myogenic regulatory factor genes in two or three phases, as well as genes that code for kinases. Marker-assisted selection relies on candidate genes related positively or negatively to muscle development and can be a strong supplement to classical selection strategies in farm animals. This comprehensive review covers important (candidate) genes that regulate muscle development and growth in farm animals (cattle, sheep, chicken, and pig). The identification of these genes is an important step toward the goal of increasing meat yields and improves meat quality.
Screening the fertile ewes from national herds to detect the major genes for prolificacy is an effective way to create the fertile flocks. Growth differentiation factor (GDF) 9 is a member of the transforming growth factor β superfamily that is essential for folliculogenesis and female fertility. The aim of this study was to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in exon 2 of GDF9 gene in Kermani sheep breed using PCR-SSCP. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood of collected samples using salting-out method. Whole exon 2 of GDF9 gene was amplified (634 bp and 647 bp fragments) using designed specific primers. The single stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) patterns of PCR products were studied using electrophoresis on acrylamide gel and silver-nitrate staining method. Finally, 4 banding patterns for the first primer pair and 4 banding patterns for the second primer pair were obtained. Also, indices of population genetic per SNP were calculated using Gen Alex 6.41 software. The sequencing results showed the presence of 3 mutations (SNP) (443, 477 and 721 positions) in the studied population.
Selective breeding can lead to genetic diversity and diverse phenotypes in farm animals. Analysis of the genomic regions under selection can provide important insights into the genetic basis of complex traits. In this study, a high-density SNP array was used for analysis of genome selection signatures in Chinese Wagyu cattle. In total, we obtained 478,903 SNPs and 24,820 no-overlap regions for |iHS| (integrated haplotype score) estimations. Under the threshold of the top 1%, 239 regions were finally identified as candidate selected regions and 162 candidate genes were found based on the UMD3.1 genome assembly. These genes were reported to be associated with fatty acids, such as Bos taurus nitric oxide synthase 1 adaptor protein (NOS1AP), Bos taurus hydroxysteroid 17-beta dehydrogenase 7 (HSD17B7), Bos taurus WD repeat domain 7 (WDR7), Bos taurus ELOVL fatty acid elongase 2 (ELOVL2), Bos taurus calpain 1 (CAPN1), Bos taurus parkin RBR E3 ubiquitin protein ligase (PRKN, also known as PARK2), Bos taurus mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 6 (MAP2K6), meat quality, including Bos taurus ADAM metallopeptidase domain 12 (ADAM12), Bos taurus 5′-aminolevulinate synthase 1 (ALAS1), Bos taurus small integral membrane protein 13 (SMIM13) and Bos taurus potassium two pore domain channel subfamily K member 2 (KCNK2), growth, and developmental traits, such as Bos taurus insulin like growth factor 2 receptor (IGF2R), Bos taurus RAR related orphan receptor A (RORA), Bos taurus fibroblast growth factor 14 (FGF14), Bos taurus paired box 6 (PAX6) and Bos taurus LIM homeobox 6 (LHX6). In addition, we identified several genes that are associated with body size and weight, including Bos taurus sorting nexin 29 (SNX29), Bos taurus zinc finger imprinted 2 (ZIM2), Bos taurus family with sequence similarity 110 member A (FAM110A), immune system, including Bos taurus toll like receptor 9 (TLR9), Bos taurus TAFA chemokine like family member 1 (TAFA1), Bos taurus glutathione peroxidase 8 (putative) (GPX8), Bos taurus interleukin 5 (IL5), Bos taurus PR domain containing 9 (PRDM9), Bos taurus glutamate ionotropic receptor kainate type subunit 2 (GRIK2) and feed intake efficiency, Bos taurus sodium voltage-gated channel alpha subunit 9 (SCN9A), Bos taurus relaxin family peptide/INSL5 receptor 4 (RXFP4), Bos taurus RNA polymerase II associated protein 3 (RPAP3). Moreover, four GO terms of biological regulation (GO:0009987, GO:0008152) and metabolic process (GO:0003824, GO:0005488) were found based on these genes. In addition, we found that 232 candidate regions (~18 Mb) overlapped with the Quantitative trait loci (QTL)regions extracted from cattle QTLdb. Our findings imply that many genes were selected for important traits in Chinese Wagyu cattle. Moreover, these results can contribute to the understanding of the genetic basis of the studied traits during the formation of this population.
The objective of this study was to estimate the allele and genotype frequencies of the UCP/Hha1 polymorphisms and to determine associations between these polymorphisms and growth traits, breeding value of growth and reproductive traits in Mazandaran Indigenous Chicken. To estimate breeding value of the reproductive traits, and phenotypic information of 18 successive generations of selection in breeding station of Mazandaran Indigenous Chicken (north of Iran), 190 birds were analyzed using a univariate animal model in ASREML procedure.. Genotyping of UCP gene polymorphism for all subjects was performed by the PCR-RFLP method. The evaluation of the association between this SNP with reproductive traits suggests a positive effect of TC genotype with age at first egg (ASM) compared with CC genotype. In addition, TC genotype was significantly associated with breeding value of age at first egg compared with CC genotype (P < 0.05). In conclusion, our results suggest that the TC genotype of the UCP gene is associated with age at sexual maturity (ASM) and breeding value of age at sexual maturity, and UCP polymorphisms may be used as DNA markers for selection in the breeding process of Mazandaran Indigenous Chicken.
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