Variation in exon 10 of the ovine calpain 3 gene (CAPN3) and its association with meat yield in New Zealand Romney sheep

Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the CAPN, CAST, LEP, GH, and IGF-1 genes with growth parameters and ultrasound characteristics of the Longissimus dorsi muscle in Colombian hair sheep

Recognition of the genes that influence livestock production characteristics has allowed researchers to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with phenotypic traits that contribute to higher productivity. The objective of this research was to associate SNPs in the genes calpain (CAPN), calpastatin (CAST), leptin (LEP), growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) with the growth characteristics birth weight (BW), weaning weight adjusted at 120 days (WW), daily pre-weaning gain (PRADG), adjusted weight at 210 days (AW210), and daily post-weaning gain (POADG), and the measures of the Longissimus dorsi muscle based on ultrasound, namely loin eye area (LEA), loin depth (LD), and back fat thickness (BFT), in Colombian hair sheep (OPC). The association between phenotypic and genotypic characteristics was made using the PLINK v.1.9 program using linear regression analysis. There was a statistically significant association (p < 0.05) between the CAST polymorphism (M/N) and BW, a tendency (p = 0.07) for an association between the T → C SNP of the CAPN gene and AW210, and a trend (p = 0.07) for an association between the A → G SNP of the IGF-1 locus and POADG. The LEA and BFT characteristics were not associated with a SNP, while PL was significantly affected by SNPs in the GH and IGF-1 genes. In conclusion, all the genes evaluated were polymorphic, the CAST gene significantly influenced BW, and the GH and IGF-1 genes were associated with LD characteristics. These results could be used to identify individuals with favorable genotypes to implement a marker-assisted selection method.

Investigation of myostatin and calpain 3 gene polymorphisms and their association with milk-production traits in Sfakia sheep

Context Genetic selection based on genetic markers for economically important traits in Sfakia sheep. Aims The aim of the present study was to investigate variation in the ovine myostatin gene (MSTN) and calpain 3 gene (CAPN3), and their association with milk-production traits. Methods Records for milk yield, milk fat content, protein content, lactose content, and non-fat solid content, pH and somatic-cell score (log), were obtained from 376 Sfakia ewes. Polymerase chain reaction–single-strand conformational polymorphism (PCR–SSCP) analyses were used to detect variation in intron 1 of MSTN and exon 10 of CAPN3. General linear models were then used to test for associations between the variation in MSTN and CAPN3, and milk-production traits. Key results The SSCP banding patterns for MSTN showed four variants (A1, A2, A3 and A4), which contained nine nucleotide sequence differences. Four SSCP banding patterns (C1, C2, C3 and C4) were observed for CAPN3 and these contained eight nucleotide-sequence differences. The MSTN variation was associated (P &lt; 0.05) with variation in milk yield and non-fat milk solid content. Variation in CAPN3 was associated with milk yield (P &lt; 0.001), fat content (P &lt; 0.05) and lactose content (P &lt; 0.05). Association analyses between the presence/absence of MSTN and CAPN3 variants and milk-production traits showed that a variant of MSTN that had previously between associated with muscle hypertrophy was associated with decreased milk yield (P &lt; 0.05) and a lower non-fat milk solid content (P &lt; 0.01). A CAPN3 variant that had previously been associated with increased sheep-carcass loin lean-meat yield was associated with a decreased milk yield (P &lt; 0.01) and a decreased milk fat content (P &lt; 0.05). Conclusions Our results have provided an insight into the effects of variation in ovine MSTN and CAPN3 on milk-production traits in sheep. Implications To preserve the dual-purpose characteristics of Sfakia sheep, breeding goals should take into account the possible antagonism between meat and milk traits.

Investigation of biochemical changes of the ovine calpain 3 exon-10 polymorphism

Calpain 3 (CAPN3) is a tissue specific calpain, and its mRNA is the most expressed calpain isoform in skeletal muscles. Many mutations and polymorphisms within the human CAPN3 gene have been reported and related to limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. Several reports link CAPN3 polymorphisms and meat quality. An association between three allele variants in exon-10 of ovine CAPN3 and the yield of fat trimmed meat cuts has been reported. This research investigated the biochemical significance of polymorphic variation in CAPN3. CAPN3 mRNA sequences were obtained from muscle samples collected from lambs which were homozygous for each of the three alleles. Four single base substitutions were found besides those in exon-10, but none of them, including the variations within exon-10, caused a change in amino acid sequence. The expression of CAPN3 mRNA and the amounts of CAPN3 protein were also compared among genotypes, and no significant differences were found. These results suggest that the reported association of specific allele variants within CAPN3 exon-10 to phenotype variations were not direct effects of CAPN3 polymorphisms. Interspecies analyses of the CAPN3 sequences indicated that the sequence reported here is more likely to be the correct common ovine CAPN3 sequence than the reference sequence.