Abstract
Abstract. Prosaposin (PSAP) is the precursor protein of four small lysosomal glycoproteins and plays vital roles in muscle growth and development of beef cattle. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between PSAP gene polymorphisms with carcass composition and meat quality traits of Chinese Simmental-cross cattle. In the present study, six SNPs were identified within intron 10 and exon 11 of the PSAP gene from 380 beef cattle by direct DNA sequencing, and 47 traits of carcass composition and meat quality were measured in the studied population. Then, the relationship between variants of PSAP gene with economic traits was analyzed using statistical methods. The result revealed that I10-65G > A, I10-313C > T, E11-87C > T, and E11-93C > G were significantly associated with carcass traits, such as dressing percentage, fat coverage rate, carcass depth, and hind leg width, and I10-162C > T and I10-274C > T were significantly associated with marbling score traits. In addition, the individuals with GCCCGC haplotype showed significant higher dressed weight, dressing percentage and rib eye area (p < 0.01), and the individuals with ACCTCC haplotype showed a significant association with the pH of beef and backfat thickness in the cattle population (p < 0.05). Our results indicate that these SNPs and haplotypes of the PSAP gene are possible important genetic factors that influence carcass composition and meat quality traits, and they may be useful markers in future marker-assisted selection (MAS) programs in beef cattle breeding and production.
Highlights
Despite advances in the identification of genetic variants that affect economic traits of livestock, identifying DNA polymorphisms that contribute to meat quality and carcass traits in cattle remains a challenge (Gill et al, 2009)
As the PSAP gene was hypothesized as a candidate gene, the objectives of this study were to determine the correlation between PSAP gene polymorphisms and meat quality traits in Chinese Simmental-cross cattle population
By direct DNA sequencing, four SNP tags were identified in intron 10 of the PSAP gene: I1065G > A (Ensembl rs42143937), I10-162C > T (Ensembl rs381104888), I10-274C > T (Ensembl rs385887193), I10313C > T (Ensembl rs209315330); and two SNPs were identified in exon 11: E11-87C > T, which induced a synonymous mutation, and E11-93C > G (Ensembl rs133441330), which induced a missense mutation of Ser (AGC) to Arg (AGG)
Summary
Despite advances in the identification of genetic variants that affect economic traits of livestock, identifying DNA polymorphisms that contribute to meat quality and carcass traits in cattle remains a challenge (Gill et al, 2009). The bovine prosaposin (PSAP) gene is located on chromosome 10 and contains 15 exons, in which exon 8 has the shortest length of only nine base pairs (Zhao and Morales, 2000). Prosaposin, a 65–70 kDa glycoprotein, is the precursor for four sphingolipid activator proteins: saposins A, B, C, and D (Morales et al, 1995, 1998; Zhao et al, 1998).
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