Association of single nucleotide polymorphism in melatonin receptor 1A gene with egg production traits in Yangzhou geese

Abstract

In the present study the melatonin receptor 1A gene (MTNR1A) was proposed to be a candidate gene for egg production in Yangzhou geese. A total of 210 goose blood samples were collected to investigate the association of the MTNR1A gene with the number of eggs produced. Using a direct sequencing method, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; g.177G>C) was detected in the 5' regulatory region of the MTNR1A gene (Genbank ss1985399687). Two alleles (G and C) and three genotypes were identified. Association analysis results showed that the g.177G>C SNP significantly affected the level of egg production within a 34-week egg-laying period (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the geese with the GG genotype produced significantly more eggs compared to the geese with the CC genotype. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that the MTNR1A gene was highly expressed in small intestine, granulosa cell and ovary compared to other examined tissues. In addition, the mRNA expression level of MTNR1A in ovary indicated that significantly higher expression levels were recorded for geese with the GG genotype compared to those with the CC genotype. Moreover, a luciferase reporter assay showed that the CC genotype had significantly lower promoter activity than did GG. These results suggest that the identified SNP in the MTNR1A gene may influence the number of eggs produced and mRNA expression levels in Yangzhou geese and could be considered as a useful molecular marker in goose selection and improvement, especially for egg production.

Polymorphisms of the melatonin receptor 1A gene that affects the reproductive seasonality and litter size in Small Tail Han sheep

“…Polymorphisms of MTNR1A gene have a great influence on the reproduction of goat (Carcangiu, Vacca, et al, ; Chu et al, ), cattle (Elraey et al, ), pig (Ramírez et al, ), goose (Alsiddig et al, ), buffalo (Gunwant et al, ; Jiang et al, ), chicken (Sundaresan et al, ) and sheep (Pelletier et al, , Chu, Ji, & Chen, , Chu et al, , Chu et al, , Mateescu et al, , Wang, , Lei, Di, Liu, & Chu, , Giantsis et al, , Calvo et al, ). The earliest researchers found two polymorphic loci in the 824bp of exon 2 of the MTNR1A gene in many sheep breeds using restriction endonucleases MnlI and RsaI (Messer et al, ; Notter, Cockett, & Hadfield, ).…”

“…Although these studies were not very clear, it also provides a new research direction. In the recent years, studies have found that MTNR1A gene could alter the number of lambing in ewes indirectly through influencing pregnancy , or involved in the production of eggs in birds (Alsiddig et al, 2016;Feng et al, 2018). Present association analysis revealed that mutation at g.15118756C > T had a great effect on litter size (the first, second and third parity) in Small Tail Han sheep (p < .05) ( were higher than the other two genotypes in g.15118664G > T, g.15118683C > T and g.15118774C > T in the first parity, although it does not reach a significant level, as well as in the second or third parity in above 3 loci ( Table 5).…”

“…In mammals, there are two high‐affinity melatonin receptor subtypes, MTNR1A and MTNR1B, but only the MTNR1A seems to be involved in the regulation of reproductive activity (Carcangiu et al, ; Mura et al, ). With the deepening of researches, several studies have found the relationships between MTNR1A and reproduction activity in different animal species (Alsiddig et al, ; Carcangiu, Vacca, et al, ; Zetouni et al, ). In chicken, melatonin receptor subtypes were identified in ovaries, suggesting that melatonin directly affects ovarian function through activation of multiple receptors (Sundaresan et al, ).…”

A Functional Mutation in KIAA1462 Promoter Decreases Glucocorticoid Receptor Affinity and Affects Egg-Laying Performance in Yangzhou Geese

“…Each sample was analyzed three times. Gene expression levels were calculated by the 2 −ΔΔ C t method using GAPDH as an internal control [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ].…”

Polymorphisms of melatonin receptor genes and their associations with egg production traits in Shaoxing duck

“…Numerous studies have investigated the relationship between melatonin receptor subtypes and egg production traits in different species, and made melatonin receptor genes potential candidate genes for QTLs [ 13 , 14 ]. However, whether or not nucleotide polymorphisms of MTNR1A , MTNR1B , and MTNR1C are associated with the egg production traits and egg quality traits in ducks is still unknown.…”