Novel SNPs in the exon region of bovine DKK4 gene and their association with body measurement traits in Qinchuan cattle

• Published in: Genetics and molecular research Vol. 12; no. 4; pp. 6664 - 6672
• Main Authors: Gao, J B, Li, Y K, Yang, N, Ma, X H, Adoligbe, C, Jiang, B J, Fu, C Z, Cheng, G, Zan, L S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil 28.02.2013
• Subjects: Animals; Base Sequence; Body Composition - genetics; Body Weight - genetics; Breeding; Cattle - genetics; China; Female; Gene Frequency; Genetic Markers; Genotype; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - genetics; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques - veterinary; Polymerase Chain Reaction - veterinary; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; Sequence Analysis, DNA; China
• ISSN: 1676-5680; 1676-5680
• DOI: 10.4238/2013.february.28.30

The aim of this study was to determine whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of bovine Dickkopf homolog 4 (DKK4) are associated with body measurement traits in Qinchuan cattle. By using PCR-SSCP technology and DNA sequencing, we discovered 5 DKK4 SNPs in Qingchuan cattle, including -65G>A and -77G>T in the 5'-untranslated region, 1532C>G and 1533T>C in exon 2, and 2088C>T in exon 3. The sequencing map showed that 1532C>G and 1533T>C were in close linkage disequilibrium and were treated as 1532C>G-1533T>C in this study. Allele frequencies were calculated and analyzed by the chi-square test, which showed that -65G>A and 1532C>G-1533T>C were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P > 0.05), whereas -77G>T and 2088C>T were not in all 633 tested Qinchuan cattle individuals (P < 0.01). Gene heterozygosity (HE), effective allele number (NE), and polymorphism information content (PIC) were 0.407, 1.686, and 0.324 at -65G>A; 0.472, 1.894, and 0.361 at -77G>T; 0.476, 1.908, and 0.363 at 1532C>G-1533T>C; and 0.218, 1.279, and 0.195 at 2088C>T. We also evaluated the potential association of these SNPs with body measurement traits in all 633 individuals; the results suggest that several SNPs in Qinchuan cattle DKK4 were significantly associated with body length, hip height, rump length, hip width, heart girth, and pin bone width (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). These results suggest that bovine DKK4 could be used as candidate gene for Qinchuan cattle breeding.