Novel 61-BP Indel of the RIN2 Gene is Significantly Associated with Chicken Growth and Carcass Traits

Abstract

Background: Ras and Rab interactor 2 (RIN2) gene, encoding RAS and Rab interacting protein 2, can interact with GTP-bound Rab5 and participate in early endocytosis. Deletion of RIN2 may impair Rab5-related endosome signaling, leading to abnormal phenotypes. However, no research has been reported on the functions of RIN2 related to animal production.Results: A 61-bp insertion/deletion (indel) in the RIN2 intron region in this study. The genotype analysis of mutation sites was performed on 550 individuals from 7 different chicken breeds, and it was found that the indel exists in each breed and the local breed chickens are mainly DD genotypes. Correlation analysis of the indel with growth traits and carcass traits of the F2 population of Xinghua and White Recessive Rock chicken showed that the RIN2 61-bp deletion mutation site was significantly correlated with abdominal fat weight, fat width and hatching weight traits (P < 0.05). RIN2 mRNA was expressed in all test tissues, and the expression level of abdominal fat was higher than that in other tissues. In addition, it was further found that the expression level of type II RIN2 mRNA in abdominal fat was significantly different from that of ID type and DD type (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that the mutation was closely related to the abdominal fat-related and hatching weight traits of chickens, which may have certain reference value for molecular marker-assisted selection of chickens.