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bHLH genes polymorphisms and their association with growth traits in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas

  • Aquaculture and Fisheries
  • Published:
Journal of Oceanology and Limnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) genes encode a large superfamily of transcription factors in the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas), and play a very important role in regulation of growth and development. To investigate the oyster growth traits and the associations with bHLH genes variations, we analyzed the gene polymorphisms-traits association in a wild population, and confirmed the results in another independent wild population by targeted gene re-sequencing and SNPshot analysis. After screening the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in three candidate genes of the bHLH family (88 bHLH genes in two wild oyster populations in total), we identified the allele CgLoblHLH4-T/G located in the exon of the CgLoblHLH4 gene. This allele is a non-synonymous mutation (Phe/Leu) with an extremely significant association with shell width (P<0.01) and allele G is beneficial to shell width. This SNP on the CgLoblHLH4 gene might have a potential value as a genetic marker of growth traits that could be used in breeding in C. gigas in the future.

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Data Availability Statement

The whole-genome re-sequencing and transcriptome datasets are deposited in the Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database under the accession number PRJNA394055.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Aquatic Germplasm Resources, College of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Wanli University, Ningbo, 315121, China

    Na Chen, Zhihua Lin & Yongbo Bao

  2. School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, China

    Na Chen & Chenghua Li

  3. Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Li Li, Jie Meng, Sheng Liu & Kai Song

Authors
  1. Na Chen
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  2. Li Li
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  3. Chenghua Li
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  4. Zhihua Lin
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  5. Jie Meng
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  6. Sheng Liu
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  7. Kai Song
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  8. Yongbo Bao
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Correspondence to Yongbo Bao.

Additional information

Supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFD0901400), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31672678), the Ningbo Municipal Science and Technology International Cooperation Research Projects (No. 2016D10017), and the Zhejiang Provincial Major Program of Science and Technology (No. 2016C02055-9)

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Chen, N., Li, L., Li, C. et al. bHLH genes polymorphisms and their association with growth traits in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. J. Ocean. Limnol. 38, 862–868 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-019-9070-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-019-9070-4

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