Two single nucleotide polymorphisms in the myostatin (GDF8) gene have significant association with muscle depth of commercial Charollais sheep

Abstract

To assess whether the same mutation(s) were responsible for similar phenotypes attributed to ovine chromosome 2 (OAR2) quantitative trait loci (QTL) in different sheep breeds, Suffolk, Texel and Charollais rams from British commercial flocks were genotyped for two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in the myostatin (GDF8) region of OAR2, previously detected in progeny of Belgian Texel rams exhibiting muscular hypertrophy. The first SNP (g.-2449G>C) was located upstream from the transcription start site and the second SNP (g.+6723G>A) in the 3' UTR of GDF8. The g.-2449C and g.+6723A alleles were absent in the Suffolk sires sampled, almost fixed in the Texel and segregating in the Charollais sires. Mixed model association analyses using SNP data on 338 Charollais lambs from 17 paternal half-sib families and phenotype and pedigree data on 56 500 lambs revealed that both SNPs had a significant association with muscle depth (P < 0.001). The SNPs were segregating at intermediate frequencies (p = 0.3) and exhibited strong linkage disequilibrium (r(2) = 0.90). Animals with the g.+6723AA genotype had significantly greater muscle depth than those with either the g.+6723GG or the g.+6723AG genotypes (P < 0.002), with the g.+6723A allele, the likely causative mutation, having an additive effect of 1.20 (+/-0.30) mm and a dominance effect of -0.73 (+/-0.36) mm. Based on estimated allelic effects and sample allele frequencies, the g.+6723G>A SNP explained 14% of the additive genetic variance of muscle depth. The maximum genetic variance for the trait (38%) attributed to the SNP would be attained at a g.+6723A allele frequency of 0.7. Our findings indicate that marker-assisted selection using these two GDF8 SNPs would be beneficial for the Charollais breed.

Identification of polymorphisms in the myostatin and leptin genes of santa inês breed and crossbreed sheep and association with carcass traits

“…Those authors also investigated the effect of this mutation on some carcass traits and found higher means, with a significant effect (p<0.05), for the traits birth weight, loin yield, and total muscle yield in the heterozygote animals. Hadjipavlou et al (2008) did not find an association between genotype and live weight. Those authors, studying Charollais sheep, stated that the effect of allele A on the muscle depth appears to be partially recessive.…”

“…Hadjipavlou et al (2008) found that Suffolk rams were not carriers of mutation in the myostatin gene, unlike Texel rams, which presented the mutant allele with frequency of nearly 100%. However, Charollais sires presented a frequency of approximately 70% for the non-mutant allele and about 30% for the mutant allele.…”

Molecular characterization of myostatin (MSTN) gene and association analysis with growth traits in the bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis)

“…For example, two SNPs had significant association with muscle depth of commercial Charollais sheep [32], while two SNPs in the 5 0 UTR were significantly associated with the increase of early growth 1 Total length refers to the length from the tip of the snout to the tip of the longer lobe of the caudal fin, measured with the lobes compressed along the midline 2 Body length refers to the length of a fish measured from the tip of the snout to the posterior end of the last vertebra or to the posterior end of the midlateral portion of the hypural plate and survival rate in postweaning Yorkshire pigs [33]. Recently, significant associations between MSTN polymorphisms and growth traits were reported in some aquaculture animals.…”

Polymorphism identification in the goat MSTN gene and association analysis with growth traits

“…In addition, the analysis failed to reveal an association of g.4911C>T locus with growth traits, and we suppose that the synonymous mutation cannot have a direct effect on the MSTN gene expression or be closely correlated with traits affected by loci in the nearby region, but further verification is needed. Hadjipavlou et al (2008) found that two SNPs in the MSTN gene have a significant association with the muscle depth of commercial Charollais sheep. In two Norwegian sheep breeds, two different mutations in the MSTN coding region are associated with carcass conformation and fatness ).…”