Abstract
BackgroundMutations in mitochondrial tRNA genes have been widely reported association with human reproductions. It is also important to explore the effect on the number of piglets born alive (NBA). Here, 1017 sows were used to investigate the association between polymorphisms in mitochondrial tRNA genes and NBA.ResultsIn total, 16 mutations were found in mitochondrial tRNA genes, of which 13 mutations were significantly associated with NBA (P < 0.05). The reproductions of mutant carriers were significantly greater than that of wild carriers by 0.989 piglets born alive/sow farrowing. To test whether the mutations altered the structure of mitochondrial tRNAs, the secondary and tertiary structures were predicted. In result, C2255T changed the secondary structure of tRNA-Val by elongating the T stem and shrinking the T loop, and C2255T and G2259A in the tRNA-Val gene, C6217T and T6219C in the tRNA-Ala gene, and T15283C in the tRNA-Glu gene altered the tertiary structure of their tRNAs, respectively by changing the folding form of the T arm, and C16487T in the tRNA-Thr gene changed the tertiary structure of mitochondrial tRNA-Thr by influencing the folding form of the acceptor arm.ConclusionsResults highlight the effect of mitochondrial tRNA genes on the number of piglets born alive, and suggest that polymorphic sites of the tRNA genes be genetic markers for selection of pig reproduction.
Highlights
Mutations in mitochondrial transfer RNAs (tRNAs) genes have been widely reported association with human reproductions
We explored the polymorphism of Mitochondrial tRNA (mt-tRNA) genes, their impacts on the secondary and tertiary structures of mt-RNAs, and the correlation between them and the number of piglets born alive (NBA)
Effect of mitochondrial polymorphism on NBA Association analyses were performed to evaluate the correlation between the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variants and the number of Structures and non-Watson-Crick base pairs of mt-tRNAs According to the tRNAscan-SE 2.0, all of the tRNAs were folded into the cloverleaf secondary structure, displayed in Fig. 1 and Additional file 2: Figure S1
Summary
Mutations in mitochondrial tRNA genes have been widely reported association with human reproductions. Mitochondria participate in several important cellular processes, including apoptosis, signaling, metabolic homeostasis and biosynthesis of macromolecules such as lipids and heme [1] Beyond these functions, mitochondria are the indispensable organelle capable of synthesizing approximately 90% of cellular ATP in vertebrates. The tRNA is canonically folded into the cloverleaf secondary structure, which is characterized by four double helical regions, the acceptor (A) stem, the dihydrouridine (D) stem and loop, the anticodon (C) stem and loop, and the TφC (T) stem and loop. Some tRNAs contain a fifth stem-loop named extra arm, which is located in the RNA sequence between the anticodon stem and the T stem [5] It is further folded into the tertiary structure, the inverted L-shape, which is stabilized by various tertiary interactions between the D- and T-loops, and interactions of the variable region with the D-stem-loop [5].
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