A Missense Mutation of the HSPB7 Gene Associated with Heat Tolerance in Chinese Indicine Cattle.

Lulan Zeng,Zhuyue Wu,Chuzhao Lei,Mingguang Huang,Yumin Zhao,Yanhong Cao,Guoliang Zhang

doi:10.3390/ani9080554

Abstract

Simple SummaryA missense mutation (NC_037329.1: g.136054902 C > G: p. Ala69Gly) was identified in the heat shock protein family B (small) member 7 (HSPB7) gene in indicine cattle, which might be a candidate mutation associated with the heat tolerance. Here, Polymerase Chain Reaction and DNA sequencing methods were used to detect this mutation in 774 individuals belonging to 32 Chinese indigenous cattle breeds. The distribution of alleles of NC_037329.1: g.136054902 C > G displays significant geographical difference across native Chinese cattle breeds and cattle carrying allele G distributed in regions with higher mean annual temperature, relative humidity, and temperature humidity index. Our results demonstrate that the mutation of the HSPB7 gene in Chinese indicine cattle might be a candidate gene associated with the heat tolerance.The small heat shock proteins (HSPB) are expressed in response to heat stress, and the heat shock protein family B (small) member 7 (HSPB7) gene has been reported to play an important role in heat tolerance pathways. Only a missense mutation (NC_037329.1: g.136054902 C > G: p.Ala69Gly) was identified in the HSPB7 gene in indicine cattle, which might be a candidate mutation associated with the heat tolerance. Here, we explore the allele frequency of this mutation in 774 individuals belonging to 32 Chinese indigenous cattle breeds using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing methods. The distribution of alleles of NC_037329.1: g.136054902 C > G displays significant geographical difference across native Chinese cattle breeds that the allele C was dominant in northern cattle groups, while allele G was dominant in southern indicine cattle groups. Additionally, the association analysis indicated that the G allele was significantly associated with mean annual temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), and temperature humidity index (THI) (p < 0.01), suggesting that cattle carrying allele G were distributed in regions with higher T, RH, and THI. Our results demonstrate that the mutation of the HSPB7 gene in Chinese indicine cattle might be a candidate gene associated with the heat tolerance.

Highlights

In tropical and subtropical areas, such as southern China, one of the problems encountering the livestock population is the excessive ambient temperature and humidity during summer
Our results demonstrate that the mutation of the HSPB7 gene in Chinese indicine cattle might be a candidate gene associated with the heat tolerance
The PCR reaction was performed in a 25 μL volume containing 20 ng of genomic DNA, 20 pM of each primer, 0.2 mM of deoxy-ribonucleotide triphosphates (Takara, Dalian, China), 1 × polymerase chain reaction (PCR) buffer (Takara, Dalian, China), and 1.0 U of rTaq DNA polymerase (Takara, Dalian, China)

Summary

Introduction

In tropical and subtropical areas, such as southern China, one of the problems encountering the livestock population is the excessive ambient temperature and humidity during summer. Negative effect caused by heat stress can compromise a variety of physiological functions including milk yield [1], reproduction [2], and immune function [3], causing a tremendous economic loss. All organisms express large numbers of heat shock proteins (HSPs) and respond to heat shock during acute and persistent stimulation by high temperatures. Belong to a highly conserved protein family that is expressed throughout embryonic development and in adult organs. It plays an important role in interacting with components of the cytoskeleton [7,8,9,10,11]

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