Detection of a novel single nucleotide polymorphism in IGF2 gene with a negative impact on egg production and body weight in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

Abstract

Background Insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) is one of three hormones that share high structural similarity to insulin. It is involved in several insulin-like growth-regulating and mitogenic activities. This study was conducted to genotype the coding regions of the IGF2 gene in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) using PCR-SSCP-sequencing, and to assess the possible association of the polymorphism of these regions with the main egg production traits. A total of 240 female birds with an equal number of three Japanese quail populations (Brown or BR, Black or BL, and White or WT) were included in this study. Results All the genotyped regions exerted no heterogeneity in their sequences with one exception detected in the exon 2. In this locus, a novel single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was detected in which “A” was substituted with “G” at 81 position with a silent effect (p.F79=SNP) on IGF2 protein. Association analyses indicated a significant (P < 0.05) relation of this SNP with egg number (EN) and bird weight (BW) in the analyzed populations, in which the birds with AG genotype had lower EN and BW than those with AA genotype. The p.F79=SNP was largely detected in the WT line than the other two lines. Conclusion The detected p.F79=SNP has a highly negative effect on EN and BW in Japanese quail. Thus, the implementation of the variations of the IGF2 gene can be a useful marker in the marker-assisted selection of Japanese quail. This is the first report to describe IGF2 gene variations in Japanese quail, which strongly suggests raising the birds from the BR line with AA genotype when breeders desire to raise Japanese quail for large-scale egg production.

Research Note: Association of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor gene polymorphism with production performance in Savimalt and French Giant meat-type quails

“…Previous research has demonstrated the significant association between polymorphisms in candidate genes and various important traits such as growth, carcass, egg production, and meat quality traits in several animal species ( El-Magd et al, 2017 ; Wu et al, 2017 ; Ali et al, 2021 ). Understanding the specific genetic variations responsible for these traits enables the development of targeted breeding and genetic improvement strategies to enhance productivity and quality in the livestock and aquaculture industries.…”

Screening for SNPs in MSTN and IGF-2 genes and its Relationship with Body Weight and Carcass Traits in Black Bronze Turkey

“…The turkey IGF-2 mRNA codes for 187-amino-acid precursor protein that share greater than 95% nucleotide and amino acid identity with chicken IGF-2 and 60-70% homology with mammalian IGF-2 sequences (Richards et al, 2005). Numerous studies have found links between IGF-2 gene polymorphism and economic traits in various species (Abo-Al-Ela et al, 2014;Ali et al, 2021;Ramadan et al, 2020).…”