Association of polymorphisms of exon 2 of the growth hormone gene with production performance in Huoyan goose

Relationship of knob morphometric analysis with production performance and meat quality in Yangzhou goose (Anser cygnoides)

The development of the knob in Chinese geese (Anser cygnodies) is an outcome of extensive and prolonged selection and breeding. The knob serves not only as a visual indicator of sexual maturity in geese but also holds significance as a crucial packaging trait that attracts attention of consumers attentions, who tend to distinctly prefer geese with larger knobs. Consequently, investigating the formation of the knob holds practical value, as it will help achieving external traits aligned with consumers' preferences. To understand the relationship between knob size, production efficiency, and meat quality in Yangzhou geese, we examined histological and anatomical characteristics in 500- and 120-day-old geese with large and small knobs. Notably, knob size had a pronounced impact on key anatomical and structural parameters, such as chest depth, leg muscle water-binding capacity, and insoluble collagen composition in Yangzhou geese (p < 0.05). In addition, we measured testosterone and estrogen levels in male and female geese, respectively, as well as growth hormone, and found that birds of both sexes with a large knob had higher sex and growth hormone levels in the body. This study established a fundamental theoretical basis for advancing the enhancement of goose knob traits.

Association analysis of polymorphisms of candidate genes for laying traits in Yangzhou geese

Egg production is an important economic trait in the Chinese goose industry. Due to the low heritability of annual egg production traits in geese, large-scale individual selection based on annual egg production measurements cannot be carried out. Therefore, new selection methods must be applied for large-scale early selections. To screen for effective molecular markers for early Yangzhou geese selection, the genotypes and gene frequencies of mutated loci of five candidate genes related to egg production, MAGI-1, ACSF2, ASTN2, KIAA1462, and ARHGAP21, were detected and analyzed by PCR-direct sequencing.Furthermore, correlation analysis was performed with annual egg mass and body weight at the point of lay and egg weight, and the results were as follows:Magi-1 (Record-106975)was A > G, ACSF2 (Record-106582)was A > C, ASTN2 (Record-111407)was A > T, KIAA1462 (Record-134172)was A > T, and the base of ARHGAP21 (Record-112359) was G > T. At all the five loci above, the Yangzhou geese population followed the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P > 0.05). The results of the association analysis between different genotypes and production performance showed no significant differences in annual egg production, body weight at the point of lay, and egg weight, among different genotypes (P > 0.05) at the mutation loci of MAGI-1 and ASTN2. At the ACSF2 and KIAA1462, the annual egg production of AC was significantly higher than that of AA and CC (P < 0.05), the annual egg production of TT was significantly higher than that of AA (P < 0.05), and there were no significant differences in body weight at the point of lay and egg weight, among the three genotypes (P > 0.05). At ARHGAP21, the body weight at the lay point of the TT genotype was the highest, which was significantly higher than that of GG (P < 0.05); however, there was no significant difference with the heterozygous GT genotype for this trait (P > 0.05). Therefore, Genotype AC at ACSF2 and genotype TT at KIAA1462 could be used as favorable genotypes for egg production, and genotype TT at ARHGAP21 could be used as a favorable genotype for weight in Yangzhou geese.

The study of the strength and significance of four biological parameters on the body weight of goose

Alternative products such as those from high-value protien animals have increased the demand for the production of high-quality chicken meat in past few years. This study examines the impact of two distinct feeding types on goose body-weight, as well as the genetic variation of growth hormone (GH) and pituitary-specific transcription factor (Pit-1) genes in ten goose populations using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and PCR-RFLP analysis. Both genes were seen as very important for productivity, especially in light of the COVID-19 and its effect on poultry industry at the time. The findings suggest that employing genetic indicators in these two genes in conjunction with a high-fat diet may be a feasible strategy for goose selection programme aiming to increase marketing body weight, as the high-fat diet outperformed the balanced diet. The study investigates the effect of gender, 2 types of diets, breeds and the genetic variation of the two genes, four SNPs were reported to be found: two at the GH gene exons C123T and C158T, and two at the Pit-1 gene exons G161A and T282G. Certain genotypes were found to have a substantial effect on the marketing body-weight of goose, which varied depending on the tested breeds. However, in terms of gender, males report higher and better performance levels than females. Diet, breeds and genotype interaction, and breeds, gender and genotype interaction were found to have a minor effect on goose body weight. However, diet, breeds, gender, SNP locus, diet and breeds interaction, and breeds and gender interaction were found to have a significant effect on goose body weight, as indicated by the effect size results.

Identification and Validation of Marketing Weight-Related SNP Markers Using SLAF Sequencing in Male Yangzhou Geese

Growth performance is a complex economic trait for avian production. The swan goose (Anser cygnoides) has never been exploited genetically like chickens or other waterfowl species such as ducks. Traditional phenotypic selection is still the main method for genetic improvement of geese body weight. In this study, specific locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) with bulked segregant analysis (BSA) was conducted for discovering and genotyping single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with marketing weight trait in male geese. A total of 149,045 SNPs were obtained from 427,093 SLAF tags with an average sequencing depth of 44.97-fold and a Q30 value of 93.26%. After SNPs' filtering, a total of 12,917 SNPs were included in the study. The 31 highest significant SNPs-which had different allelic frequencies-were further validated by individual-based AS-PCR genotyping in two populations. The association between 10 novel SNPs and the marketing weight of male geese was confirmed. The 10 significant SNPs were involved in linear regression model analysis, which confirmed single-SNP associations and revealed three types of SNP networks for marketing weight. The 10 significant SNPs were located within or close to 10 novel genes, which were identified. The qPCR analysis showed significant difference between genotypes of each SNP in seven genes. Developed SLAF-seq and identified genes will enrich growth performance studies, promoting molecular breeding applications to boost the marketing weight of Chinese geese.

A novel c.-652C>T mutation in UCHL1 gene is associated with the growth performance in Yangzhou goose

As a member of the ubiquitin-dependent proteasome degradation pathway, Ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase-L1 (UCHL1) plays a key role in post-translational modification and protein degradation, and it is extensive and important for the regulation of various biological functions of the organism. However, its function remains unclear in goose growth performance. In this study, the full-length genomic DNA and coding region of UCHL1 gene was firstly cloned and characterized in Yangzhou goose. Tissue expression profile revealed that UCHL1 was exclusively expressed in brain and gonads. A novel single nucleotide polymorphisms c.-652C>T which is significantly related to 64-d body weight of Yangzhou goose was found in UCHL1 promoter region by comparative sequencing. Correlation analysis in a population of 405 geese showed that TT genotype individuals had higher body weight than CC individuals in male, but not in female geese. Dual-luciferase reporter assay indicated that the single nucleotide polymorphisms c.-652C>T is located at the core promoter region of UCHL1, and the promoter transcription activity was significantly increased (P < 0.01) when allele C changed to T. Geese with TT genotype had higher mRNA level of UCHL1 in brain tissue than those of CC genotype (P < 0.01). Compared with CC individuals, neuropeptide Y and AdipoR1 mRNA level was significantly higher in TT individuals (P < 0.05), while FAS mRNA level was lower in the TT individuals (P < 0.05). In summary, we identify a novel mutation in the promoter of UCHL1 gene, which can alter transcriptional activity of UCHL1 gene, and affect the growth performance of male goose.

Ecology and population structure of some indigenous geese breeds and the impact of four GH and Pit-1 SNPs on their body weights

This study aims to determine the genetic correlation using nine microsatellite markers to reconstruct the history of some indigenous geese populations, along with the use of four single nucleotides polymorphisms (SNPs) to investigate their correlation with the geese body weight. Microsatellite markers are mainly used to provide updated information on changes in the population structure of geese breeds. The eight goose populations reported 24% private alleles specific for each population. Expected heterozygosity (He) ranged from 0.46 to 0.70. Three breeds were reported highly polymorphic. Inbreeding coefficient (Fis) revealed that three breeds were in a minimum level of extinction danger, while one breed was in a potential endangered situation. Phylogenetic tree, principal component analysis (PCA), and self-organizing map (SOM) were constructed using MATLAB to study the population distribution and relationship among these breeds. Four SNPs were detected, two SNPs at GH gene exon (C123T and C158T), and two SNPs at Pit-1 gene exons (G161A and T282G). Four SNP loci were reported to have a significant effect on geese body weight. They were CT genotype for C123T locus, TT genotype for C158T locus, GG genotype for G161A locus, and GG genotype for T282G locus.

Yak FOXO1 and FOXO3 SNPs and association with production traits, and their promotes cells apoptosis via RNAi

FOXOs transcription factors not only play key roles in glucose metabolism, muscle atrophy and energy homeostasis but also play crucial transcriptional regulatory roles in the cell's metabolism, orchestrating programs of gene expression that regulate cell apoptosis, cell-cycle progression and oxidative stress resistance. However, the specific function of FOXOs promoting fibroblasts proliferation and apoptosis are still unknown. Thus, we used the High-Resolution Melting (HRM) and RNA interference methods to detect SNPs and function. We found one SNP in the exon of FOXO1, three SNPs were identified in the exon of FOXO3, and three SNPs and production traits were significantly different. The siRNA sequence of yak FOXO1 and FOXO3 were transfected into the yak fibroblasts, and effects were detected by a series of assays to reveal the function in yak fibroblasts. The results demonstrated that down-regulated expression of FOXO1 and FOXO3 resulted in up-regulated the expression of BAX, Caspase9 and Caspase3, and down-regulated the expression level of anti-apoptotic gene of BCL2. The apoptotic situation was consistent with results of the flow cytometry and Tunel test cell cycle and cell vitality results revealed that knockdown FOXO1 and FOXO3 resulted in increased P27 expression level and decreased CyclinD1. Meanwhile, cell vitality was also decreased. These results demonstrated that FOXO1 and FOXO3 are two novel regulatory factors to suppress cells proliferation and promote cells apoptosis. Furthermore, these results provide evidence that FOXO1 and FOXO3 play a functional role in cell apoptosis.

Polymorphisms and DNA methylation level in the CpG site of the GHR1 gene associated with mRNA expression, growth traits and hormone level of half-smooth tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis)

The objectives of the present study were to estimate the GHR1 gene mutations and methylation status of CpGs, and whether those mutations and methylation were involved in the regulation of GHR1 gene expression, hormone level and growth traits in half-smooth tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis). Identification of single-nucleotide polymorphisms was performed on 43 male fish. Through polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism and sequencing, two SNPs were found. SNP1 [c.G1357A (p.Val376Ile)] creating one CpG site located in exon 8 was named L1 locus, and SNP2 (c.G1479A) located in exon 9 was named L2 locus. Individuals were divided into three genotypes, AA, AG and GG according to L1 locus (GG genotype had one more CpG site because of the mutation), and into two genotypes, AA- and GG-based on L2 locus. The results showed that only L1 locus was significantly associated with body weight (P < 0.01), gonad weight (P ≤ 0.05), triiodothyronine (T3) level (P ≤ 0.05) and mRNA expression (P < 0.01). At L1 locus, newly created CpG site in GG genotype was highly methylated (93.3 %), while there was no difference of methylation level in the other two CpG sites among three genotypes. AA genotype and AG genotype having higher T3 level were significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) from GG genotype. There were significant differences among body weights of AA, AG and GG genotypes (P < 0.01). Gonad weights of AA genotype and AG genotype were significantly lower than GG genotype. The GHR1 mRNA expression of GG genotype was significantly lower than AA and AG genotypes (P < 0.01). These implied that mutations and methylation status of GHR1 gene might influence the hormone level, growth traits and gene expression in male half-smooth tongue sole and the L1 locus could be regarded as a potential candidate genetic and epigenetic marker in half-smooth tongue sole selection.