Two single nucleotide polymorphisms in the promoter of the ovine myostatin gene (MSTN) and their effect on growth and carcass muscle traits in New Zealand Romney sheep

Abstract

Myostatin is a negative regulator of muscle growth and development in mammals, and variation in ovine myostatin gene (MSTN) has been demonstrated to be associated with variation in the muscularity of sheep. Polymerase chain reaction-single-stranded conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) was used to look for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a 304-bp amplicon from the promoter region of ovine MSTN. Sequence analyses revealed two previously identified SNPs (c.-2449G/C and c. -2379T/C) that resulted in three haplotypes (H1 (c.[-2449G; -2379C]), H2 (c.[-2449C; -2379C]) and H3 (c.[-2449G; -2379T]). The effect of these SNPs on growth and carcass traits was investigated in 357 NZ Romney lambs. General linear mixed-effect models revealed that sheep with the genotype c.-2449GC had a higher loin meat yield (p = 0.032) and proportion loin yield (p = 0.028), than those with the genotype c.-2449GG. The genotype c.-2379CC was associated with an increase in three weight traits: birthweight (p = 0.003), tailing weight (p = 0.009) and weaning weight (p = 0.028), when compared with the genotype c.-2379TC, but it was not found to have an association with growth rate. This suggests that c.-2379T/C has an effect that originates at, or before birth. Haplotype H3 was associated with a decrease in birthweight (p = 0.002), tailing weight (p = 0.003) and weaning weight (p = 0.011). Haplotype H2 was associated with increased loin yield (p = 0.012) and proportion loin yield (p = 0.002). The SNPs may have value as genetic markers for improved Romney breeding.

Effects of Intronic SNPs in the Myostatin Gene on Growth and Carcass Traits in Colored Polish Merino Sheep

“…Moreover, conversely to our results Crispo et al [41] and Li et al [42] showed significant differences between the WT and the MSTN KO lambs in postnatal growth and development. Results of Crispo et al [41] are with disagreement not only with our present studies, but also with outcomes of other authors, e.g., [10,16,34], who have observed the effects of polymorphisms in the MSTN gene on birth weight. Conversely, several authors, e.g., [15,38], did not observe effects of the MSTN gene polymorphisms on postnatal growth.…”

“…Moreover, the c.*1232G>A substitution was associated with lamb live weight in 8 weeks of age in Texel x Welsh Mountain lambs [36]. Interestingly, Wang et al [16] found association between the nucleotide variation in a promoter region of the MSTN gene (c.-2379) and birth, tailing and weaning weights. Moreover, Han et al [37] investigated SNPs in the promoter, the first exon and intron, as well as the 3 UTR region of the MSTN gene and they observed highly significant (p = 0.006) and significant (p = 0.02) effects of the H1 haplotype on tailing weigh (approximately 3 weeks after birth) and growth rate to weaning, respectively.…”

“…Several authors have also focused on the effects of nucleotide variations in other non-coding regions of the MSTN gene than the first intron [15,16,21,[34][35][36][37] or/and polymorphisms in coding region of this gene [6,8,10] on growth traits. For instance, Kijas et al [15] analyzed SNPs in the promoter region, the second intron and the c.*1232 position of the MSTN gene; however, they did not find any relationships between these nucleotide substitutions and several lamb growth traits, e.g., birth weight, in different sheep breeds.…”

“…Kijas et al [15] found a number of effects of SNPs located in the promoter, the second intron, and the 3 UTR regions on several carcass and meat quality traits. Moreover, Wang et al [16] identified polymorphisms in the promoter region of the MSTN gene and showed their effects on growth and carcass traits in NZ Romney sheep.…”

Themyostatingene: an overview of mechanisms of action and its relevance to livestock animals

“…In NZ Romney, two additional SNPs—c.–2449G/C and c.–2379T/C—were detected (Wang et al . ). The c.*123A variant observed in NZ cross‐bred sheep was also reported in Texel (Kijas et al .…”