Novel Nucleotide Variations, Haplotypes Structure and Associations with Growth Related Traits of Goat AT Motif-Binding Factor (ATBF1) Gene.

Xiaoyan Zhang,Hong Chen,Chuzhao Lei,Xiangcheng Li,Xianyong Lan,Xianfeng Wu,Wenchao Jia,Chuanying Pan

doi:10.5713/ajas.14.0860

Abstract

The AT motif-binding factor (ATBF1) not only interacts with protein inhibitor of activated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) (PIAS3) to suppress STAT3 signaling regulating embryo early development and cell differentiation, but is required for early activation of the pituitary specific transcription factor 1 (Pit1) gene (also known as POU1F1) critically affecting mammalian growth and development. The goal of this study was to detect novel nucleotide variations and haplotypes structure of the ATBF1 gene, as well as to test their associations with growth-related traits in goats. Herein, a total of seven novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (SNP 1-7) within this gene were found in two well-known Chinese native goat breeds. Haplotypes structure analysis demonstrated that there were four haplotypes in Hainan black goat while seventeen haplotypes in Xinong Saanen dairy goat, and both breeds only shared one haplotype (hap1). Association testing revealed that the SNP2, SNP5, SNP6, and SNP7 loci were also found to significantly associate with growth-related traits in goats, respectively. Moreover, one diplotype in Xinong Saanen dairy goats significantly linked to growth related traits. These preliminary findings not only would extend the spectrum of genetic variations of the goat ATBF1 gene, but also would contribute to implementing marker-assisted selection in genetics and breeding in goats.

Highlights

As the global economy is rapidly expanding, the demand for goat products is increasing in numerous developed and developing countries, such as China, India and South Africa
The different genotypes of SNP5-ScaII locus had significantly associated with body weight (BW), demonstrating that the genotype AA and GG was superior to AG in XNSN dairy goat
ATBF1 is necessary for the pituitary specific transcription factor 1 (Pit1) gene activation, indicating that ATBF1 could indirectly participate in the regulative roles of Pit1 gene, including regulating Wnt/beta-catenin pathway and POU1F1 pathway (Carvalho et al, 2006; Qi et al, 2008; Davis et al, 2010)

Summary

Introduction

As the global economy is rapidly expanding, the demand for goat products is increasing in numerous developed and developing countries, such as China, India and South Africa. These goat products are experiencing serious shortage in those countries. The question of how to improve goat growth and development has aroused interests in goat selection and breeding (Choudhary et al, 2007). An effective DNA marker-assisted selection (MAS) would speed up the development and improvement goat products. Thereby, identifying, mapping, and analyzing novel nucleotide variations of the candidate genes and detecting their associations with economic traits are required for an effective MAS system

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Conclusion