Exploring insertions and deletions (indels) of MSRB3 gene and their association with growth traits in four Chinese indigenous cattle breeds.

Mingli Wu,Yongzhen Huang,Yingzhi Fan,Shipeng Li,Xianyong Lan,Chuzhao Lei,Guoliang Zhang,Yuan Gao,Yun Ma,Ruihua Dang

doi:10.5194/aab-62-465-2019

Abstract

Methionine sulfoxide reductase B3 (MSRB3) is instrumental in ossification and fat deposition, which regulate the growth and development of cattle directly. The purpose of this study was aimed to explore insertions and deletions (indels) in MSRB3 gene and investigate their association with growth traits in four indigenous cattle breeds (Luxi cattle, Qinchuan cattle, Nanyang cattle, and Jiaxian Red cattle). Four indels were identified by sequencing with DNA pool. Association analysis showed that three of them were associated with growth traits (). For P1, the DD (deletion and deletion) genotype was significantly associated with body length of Nanyang cattle; for P6, II (insertion and insertion) and/or DD genotypes were significantly associated with enhanced growth traits of Qinchuan cattle; for P7, II genotype was significantly associated with hucklebone width of Luxi cattle. Our results demonstrated that the polymorphisms in bovine MSRB3 gene were significantly associated with growth traits, which could be candidate loci for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in cattle breeding.

Highlights

There are abundant indigenous cattle breeds in China and most of them were draft cattle for thousands of years (Zhang et al, 2018)
In order to demonstrate the relationship between polymorphisms and performance traits, more than 6000 growth traits were measured and calculated, including body weight (BW), body height (BH), body length (BL), chest circumference (ChC), chest depth (ChD), chest width (ChW), hucklebone width (HuW), hip width (HW), cannon circumference (CaC), body length index (BLI), chest circumference index (ChCI), chest width index (ChWI), cannon circumference index (CaCI), hucklebone width index (HuWI), and trunk index (TI) (Zhang et al, 2019; Zhao et al, 2018)
Some studies have shown that the knockout of Methionine sulfoxide reductase B3 (MSRB3) leads to a decrease in fibroblast proliferation, which could influence the function of proteins, glycosaminoglycan and glycoproteins (Lee et al, 2014)

Summary

Introduction

There are abundant indigenous cattle breeds in China and most of them were draft cattle for thousands of years (Zhang et al, 2018). Chinese indigenous cattle breeds have the characteristics of slow growth, low yield, and low-grade beef (Yue et al, 2019). The identification of candidate genes for growth traits has attracted more and more attention. Previous research has shown that MSRB3 gene could influence ear shape and size, otitis media, heat resistance, oxidation resistance, auditory system, reproductive traits, and size of the hippocampus (Zhang et al, 2017; Fan et al, 2007; Pillas et al, 2010; Shen et al, 2015; Wei et al, 2015; Lee et al, 2012). In recent years, based on the analysis of GWASs (genome-wide association studies), gene silencing, and protein precipitation, MSRB3 was regarded as a candidate gene to affect bovine growth traits (Saatchi et al, 2014).

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Conclusion