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Polymorphism of chicken myocyte-specific enhancer-binding factor 2A gene and its association with chicken carcass traits

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Abstract

Myocyte-specific enhancer-binding factor 2A (MEF2A) gene is a member of the myocyte-specific enhancer-binding factor 2 (MEF2) protein family which involved in vertebrate skeletal muscle development and differentiation. The aim of the current study is to investigate the potential associations between MEF2A gene SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) and the carcass traits in 471 chicken samples from four populations. Three new SNPs (T46023C, A72626G, and T89232G) were detected in the chicken MEF2A gene. The T46023C genotypes were associated with live body weight (BW), carcass weight (CW), eviscerated weight, semi-eviscerated weight (SEW), and leg muscle weight (LMW) (P < 0.05); the A72626G genotypes were associated with BW, CW, LMW (P < 0.01) and breast muscle weight (BMW), leg muscle percentage (LMP) (P < 0.05); whereas the T89232G genotypes were associated with carcass percentage (CP) and semi-eviscerated percentage (SEP) (P < 0.05). The haplotypes constructed on the three SNPs were associated with BW, CW, LMW (P < 0.01), SEW, BMW, CP (P < 0.05). Significantly and suggestive dominant effects of diplotype H1H2 were observed for BW, CW, SEW, BMW and CP, whereas diplotype H5H5 had a negative effect on BW, CW, SEW, BMW and LMW. Our results suggest that the MEF2A gene may be a potential marker affecting the muscle trait of chickens.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge D. M. Shu, H. Qu, & C. F. Yang for help in managing the birds and collecting the data. The work was financially supported by the Chinese national key technologies R & D program (Grant No: 2008BADB2B01); the Province Key Technologies R & D Program of Livestock and Poultry Breeding Programs of Sichuan Province (No. 2006-YZGG-19 and 2006-YZGG-25); the Science Fund for Young Scholars in Sichuan Province (Grant No: ZQ 026-017); the National 863 Project of China (No. 2008AA101001) and the Open Fund of Sichuan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Sichuan Animal Science Academy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agriculture University, 625014, Ya’an, Sichuan, China

    Yan Zhou, Yiping Liu & Qing Zhu

  2. Poultry Institute of Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, 250023, Jinan, China

    Yan Zhou

  3. Sichuan Animal Science Academy, 610066, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Xiaosong Jiang

  4. Sichuan Dahen Poultry Breeding Company, 610066, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Huarui Du & Xiaocheng Li

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  1. Yan Zhou
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  2. Yiping Liu
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  3. Xiaosong Jiang
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  4. Huarui Du
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  5. Xiaocheng Li
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  6. Qing Zhu
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Correspondence to Xiaosong Jiang or Qing Zhu.

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Zhou, Y., Liu, Y., Jiang, X. et al. Polymorphism of chicken myocyte-specific enhancer-binding factor 2A gene and its association with chicken carcass traits. Mol Biol Rep 37, 587–594 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9838-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9838-2

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