A Deletion Downstream of the CHCHD7 Gene Is Associated with Growth Traits in Sheep.

Hongwei Xu,Xin Cao,Jutian Yang,Haixia Li,Ayimuguli Abudureyimu,Yong Cai,Zhen Wang,Xianyong Lan,Rongxin Zang

doi:10.3390/ani10091472

Abstract

Simple SummaryThe genes CHCHD7 and PLAG1 are located on the same growth-related major quantitative trait locus of sheep. PLAG1 affects sheep growth, but no corresponding studies have been conducted on CHCHD7. However, polymorphisms in the CHCHD7 gene are associated with carcass weight and muscle formation in cattle, body height in cattle and humans, and weaning weight in Duroc pigs. In this study, the mathematical expectation method was used to analyze an 8-bp deletion mutation located downstream of the CHCHD7 gene in 2350 individuals from seven sheep breeds. The associations between wild-type and deletion genotypes and growth traits in Tan sheep were also analyzed. The 8-bp deletion locus was significantly associated with body length (p = 0.032), chest depth (p = 0.015), and chest width (p = 0.047) of Tan sheep. Additionally, wild-type genotype carriers were more numerous than those heterozygous for the deletion genotype. Thus, the genotyped 8-bp deletion downstream of the CHCHD7 gene may be associated with growth and development traits in sheep.In sheep, the coiled-coil-helix-coiled-coil-helix domain containing 7 (CHCHD7) gene and the pleiomorphic adenoma gene 1 (PLAG1) are on the same growth-related major quantitative trait locus, positioned head-to-head approximately 420 bp apart on chromosome 9. PLAG1 affects sheep growth, but the effects of CHCHD7 have not been determined. In this study, an 8-bp deletion downstream of CHCHD7 was analyzed in 2350 sheep from seven breeds. The associations between the deletion and growth traits of Tan sheep were also determined. Both genotypes (homozygous wild-type and heterozygous) for the 8-bp deletion were found in Tan (TS), Luxi Blackhead (LXBH), Small-Tail Han (STHS), and Lanzhou Fat-Tail (LFTS) sheep. However, there were no polymorphic sites for the mutation in Hu (HS), Sartuul (SS), and Australian White (AUW) sheep. In TS, LXBH, STHS, and LFTS sheep, the deletion genotype was less frequent than the wild-type genotype, and the allele frequencies of the deletion variant were 0.007 (TS), 0.011 (LBXH), 0.008 (STHS), and 0.010 (LFTS). The 8-bp deletion was significantly associated with body length (p = 0.032), chest depth (p = 0.015), and chest width (p = 0.047) in Tan sheep. Thus, the 8-bp deletion downstream of the CHCHD7 gene might be associated with growth and development traits of sheep.

Highlights

Sheep provide meat, fur, and other valuable products
In China, sheep breeding has a crucial role in regional economic development, but some shortcomings remain in the production of sheep meat [1,2]
A total of 2350 sheep from the following seven sheep breeds were sampled in this study: Tan (TS; n = 907, containing 276 samples from Wu et al [15]), Luxi Blackhead (LXBH; n = 629), Small-Tail Han (STHS; n = 190), Lanzhou Fat-Tail (LFTS; n = 49), Hu (HS; n = 201), Sartuul (SS; n = 48), and Australian

Summary

Introduction

The meat, which is nutritious and tender, has significant economic value. In China, sheep breeding has a crucial role in regional economic development, but some shortcomings remain in the production of sheep meat [1,2]. The use of marker-assisted selection in breeding has been widely studied as an alternative [3,4]. Insertions and deletions (indels) are a particular type of genetic marker that can be used as a molecular marker in the genetic selection of livestock [3,4]. The indels located within or close to potentially relevant genes in sheep need to be analyzed [5,6]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion