Significant association of mutations close to LCORL gene with growth performance in Zhedong white geese (Anser cygnoides)

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the role of the LCORL gene in regulating the growth performance of Zhedong white (ZDW) geese, belonging to the swan geese (Anser cygnoides), and identify possible selective signatures in diverse goose breeds. Single nucleotide polymorphisms around LCORL were genotyped, and their associations with body‐size‐related (BSR) traits were estimated. The results showed that the genotyped loci upstream of LCORL were significantly related to the body weight and breast width of ZDW geese aged 10 weeks (p < 0.05). A genome scan comparing expected heterozygosity among different breeds identified a ~150 kb long genomic region with extremely low heterozygosity downstream of LCORL among swan geese. Further, significant associations of variants within the low heterozygosity region among ZDW geese with BSR traits, including body weight, body length and breast width (p < 0.05) were also detected. Overall, mutations adjacent to LCORL were related to the growth performance of swan geese, and the significant effects of variants in a low‐heterozygosity region on BSR traits provided valuable insights into the molecular mechanism of artificial selection reshaping body stature in swan geese.

Identifying candidate genes and biological pathways in muscle development through multi-tissue transcriptome comparisons between male and female geese

“…Given the wide physiological differences and profound effects on performance associated with gender, it is crucial to incorporate this factor into a model for exploring the intricate associations between genotypes and phenotypes 12 , 13 . However, the avoidance of this factor has led to an incomplete understanding of the basic mechanisms governing the effects of gender.…”

“…ZDW goose has been always kept by villagers to guard their yard as geese were vigilant and noisy and male geese were selected for larger body size than females while females were selected for reproduction performance. Due to precocious sexual maturity and large difference in growth performance between male and female geese, the ZDW goose breed was selected in our study 13 . By performing one-way (the factor of sex) comparative transcriptomic analyses, we aimed to detect critical genes leading to differences in growth performance between male and female geese.…”