Effect of indel variants within the sorting nexin 29 (SNX29) gene on growth traits of goats

Abstract

The sorting nexin 29 gene (SNX29) is a well-known regulator of myocyte differentiation and proliferation. In this work, two indels (17-bp and 21-bp) were identified in the goat SNX29 gene, and their effects on the growth traits of 1,759 Shaanbei white cashmere (SBWC) goats were analyzed. Both indels had three genotypes [homozygote wild type (II), heterozygote (ID), and homozygote mutation (DD)] and displayed medium genetic diversity (0.25 < polymorphism information content (PIC) < 0.50) in the population. The 17-bp indel was significantly associated with chest width (p = 0.009), body weight (p = 0.021), and chest depth (p = 0.032), with the II genotype dominant. The 21-bp indel was significantly associated with chest width (p = 0.001), chest depth (p = 4.8E-5), heart girth (p = 0.007), and hip width (p = 0.002). Because the two indels were in the upstream (17-bp) and intron (21-bp) regions of the SNX29 gene, transcription factor binding sites were predicted. The IRF5 and MYC could bind with the 17-bp indel and 21-bp indel sequences, respectively. This study indicates that SNX29 is a promising candidate gene that can be used to improve meat production in goat breeding.

Keywords:

• Shaanbei white cashmere goat
• SNX29
• indels
• growth traits

Acknowledgement

We greatly appreciated the Research Core Services (RCS) of College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University and the Life Science Research Core Services (LSRCS) of Northwest A&F University (Northern Campus) for providing us with the platform.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Resources, Yi Bi, Yuhan Chen, Dongyun Xin, Tingting Liu, Chuanying Pan, Weijun Shen, Xianyong Lan, Mei Liu; Conducting experiment, Yuhan Chen, Dongyun Xin, Tingting Liu; Project administration, Xianyong Lan, Mei Liu; Data curation, Yi Bi, Dongyun Xin, Tingting Liu; Writing - original draft, Yi Bi; Writing - review & editing, Yi Bi, Xianyong Lan and Mei Liu.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [NO.32002166].