Two SNPs in the bovine PPARGC1A gene are associated with the birth weight of Holstein calves

Abstract

Several previous studies have confirmed the positive correlation between the calf birth weight and calving ease of the dams, subsequent milk yield and growth performance in dairy cattle. The PPARGC1A gene plays an essential role in energy metabolism and fat accumulation in adipose tissue. This study aimed to assess the association of the PPARGC1A gene with the birth weight of the dam (DBW) and calves (CBW) in Iranian Holstein cattle. The animals were genotyped by PCR-RFLP method for SNPs c.1892T/C and c.3359A/C of the PPARGC1A gene. The SNPs were analyzed in a fixed linear model for assessment the association with records of birth weights collected from 2003 to 2013. Significant effects were observed between both SNP1892 and SNP3359 and DBW and CBW (P < 0.05) explaining a considerable value of the additive genetic variance of the studied traits. The findings of the present study suggest that the SNPs 1892 and 3359 of bovine PPARGC1A could be used in the cattle breeding programs for growth traits through marker-assisted selection.