Variants in BMP7 and BMP15 3'-UTRs Associated with Reproductive Traits in a Large White Pig Population.

Li Li,Wu Wu,Pan Pan,Du Du,Yin Yin,Liu Liu

doi:10.3390/ani9110905

Abstract

Bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) and BMP15, which encode members of the BMP family, have been identified by whole-genome resequencing as breeding-related genes that overlap with a known quantitative trait locus for reproductive traits. In this study, we investigated the effects of variants at the BMP7 and BMP15 gene loci on sow reproductive traits. We isolated 669 and 1213 bp sequences of the 3’-untranslated region (3’-UTR) of the porcine BMP7 and BMP15 genes, respectively, and detected several RNA regulatory elements, such as miRNA response elements and AU-rich elements. Pooled DNA sequencing identified two novel point mutations (viz., BMP7 c.1569A>G and BMP15 c.2366G>A) in the 3’-UTR. Association analysis showed that the c.1569A>G polymorphism was associated with the litter weight trait in a Large White pig population. Furthermore, analysis of the combined genetic effects revealed that AA/GA and AG/GG were the favorable combined genotypes for the total number of piglets born (TNB) and the total number of piglets born alive (NBA), whereas. Together, our findings confirm that BMP7 and BMP15 are candidate genes for porcine reproductive performance.

Highlights

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are a group of multifunctional cytokines that belong to the BMP subfamily of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) superfamily
Several classic regulatory elements, such as the poly(A) signal (PAS; AAUAAA) and AU-rich element (ARE; AUUUA), were identified within this region; that is, at c.1714/1719, and c.1769/1773
We identified the novel point mutation c.1569A>G in the 3’-untranslated region (3’-UTR) of the porcine Bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) gene and found that its polymorphism was associated with the litter weight (LW) trait in a Large White pig population

Summary

Introduction

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are a group of multifunctional cytokines that belong to the BMP subfamily of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) superfamily. SMAD1, SMAD5, and SMAD8 by mediating their phosphorylation, and the activated SMADs form complexes with SMAD4 These SMAD complexes subsequently enter the nucleus where they control several key genes for follicular development, oocyte maturation and ovulation, and luteal formation by acting as a transcription factor [4,5,6]. In domestic animals, the BMPs are either major genes for high fecundity or candidate genes for reproductive traits [9,10,11,12,13]. BMP15 and BMPR1B are the major genes for high fecundity traits, where the FecB mutation of BMPR1B, in particular, has been widely used in sheep breeding [9,10,11]

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