Abstract
The objective of this study was to assess the association of polymorphisms in myostatin (MSTN) genes with growth and carcass traits in lines of Peking ducks. The polymorphism of the ducks MSTN gene promoter region was researched by polymerase chain reaction-single-stranded conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and DNA sequencing methods. Three mutations: G-753A, G-658T and G-235C were detected in the duck MSTN gene. Altogether, 300 Peking ducks of three lines (Z2 line, Z4 line and Z2×Z4 cross line) were genotyped and allele frequencies were determined. The effects of MSTN polymorphisms on growth and carcass traits were analyzed. The G-753A was significantly associated with breast meat percentages (BMP) (P = 0.0225). The G-235C indicated significant association with abdominal fat percentages (AFP) (P = 0.0297). No significant association, however, was detected between any of the marker genotype and other traits measured in this study. Results from this study suggest that MSTN gene-specific single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) may be a useful marker for growth and carcass traits in future marker assisted selection programs in ducks. Key words: Duck, myostatin gene, SNPs, PCR-SSCP, growth and carcass traits, association analysis.
Highlights
Myostatin (MSTN), known as growth differentiation factor 8 (GDF-8), is a member of the transforming growth factor- superfamily, which is an essential factor for the growth and development of muscle mass (McPherron and Lee 1997; Mendias et al, 2008)
Results from this study suggest that MSTN gene-specific single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) may be a useful marker for growth and carcass traits in future marker assisted selection programs in ducks
The MSTN gene mainly expresses itself in skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle (Hennebry et al, 2009) and the protein functions as a negative regulator in the process of muscle development in animal breeding (Bellinge et al, 2005), and the polymorphisms of this gene are directly related to the double muscling phenotype (Wiener et al, 2002; Esmailizadeh et al, 2008; Grisolia et al, 2009; Phocas, 2009) which makes it a consolidate candidate gene for the enhancement of productivity in terrestrial livestock and fowl
Summary
Myostatin (MSTN), known as growth differentiation factor 8 (GDF-8), is a member of the transforming growth factor- superfamily, which is an essential factor for the growth and development of muscle mass (McPherron and Lee 1997; Mendias et al, 2008). The MSTN gene mainly expresses itself in skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle (Hennebry et al, 2009) and the protein functions as a negative regulator in the process of muscle development in animal breeding (Bellinge et al, 2005), and the polymorphisms of this gene are directly related to the double muscling phenotype (Wiener et al, 2002; Esmailizadeh et al, 2008; Grisolia et al, 2009; Phocas, 2009) which makes it a consolidate candidate gene for the enhancement of productivity in terrestrial livestock and fowl This shows the meaningful study of the association between the polymorphisms of MSTN and the growth and carcass traits of animals. The results of this study could add new important evidences that MSTN could be an important candidate gene to be used for the
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