Insertion/deletion (Indel) variant of the goat RORA gene is associated with growth traits

Abstract

RAR related orphan receptor A (RORA), which encodes the retinoid-acid-related orphan receptor alpha (RORα), is a clock gene found in skeletal muscle. Several studies have shown that RORα plays an important role in bone formation, suggesting that RORA gene may take part in the regulation of growth and development. The purpose of this research is to study the insertion/deletion (indel) variations of the RORA gene and investigate the relationship with the growth traits of Shaanbei white cashmere (SBWC) goats. Herein, the current study identified that the P4-11-bp and P11-28-bp deletion sites are polymorphic among 12 pairs of primers within the RORA gene in the SBWC goats (n = 641). Moreover, the P11-28-bp deletion locus was significantly related to the body height (p = 0.046), height at hip cross (p = 0.012), and body length (p = 0.003). Both of P4-11-bp and P11-28-bp indels showed the moderate genetic diversity (0.25<PIC < 0.5). Thus, the study results indicated that the P11-28-bp deletion site should be used as a molecular marker to select excellent goat individuals with superior growth performance.

Keywords:

• RAR related orphan receptor A (RORA)
• goat
• clock gene
• insertion/deletion
• growth traits

Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Ph.D. Prof. Lei Qu and his team from Shaanxi Province Engineering & Technology Research Center of Cashmere Goats (Shaanxi, China), and Yulin University for their support in collecting samples and data. We also want to thank the College of Animal Science and Technology of Northwest A&F University.

Author  contributions

Qian Zhou, Chuanying Pan and Xianfeng Wu designed the experiment. Qian Zhou conducted all experiments, drew diagrams and wrote the manuscript. Huina Hu, Yuta Yang, Yuxin Kang, Zhengang Guo conducted experiments and collected data. Ph.D. Chuanying Pan and Xianfeng Wu revised the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by The Young Topnotch Researcher Support Project of Northwest A&F University [No.QNGG-2009-007].