Polymorphism and expression level of the FADS3 gene and associated with the growth traits in Hu sheep

Abstract

Growth traits are the economically important traits of sheep, and screening for genes related to growth and development is helpful for the genetic improvement of ovine growth traits. The fatty acid desaturase 3 (FADS3) is one of the important genes affecting the synthesis and accumulation of polyunsaturated fatty acids in animals. In this study, the expression levels of the FADS3 gene and polymorphism of the FADS3 gene associated with growth traits in Hu sheep were detected using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), Sanger sequencing, and KAspar assay. The result showed that the expression levels of the FADS3 gene were widely expressed in all tissues, and the expression level of FADS3 in the lung was significantly higher than in other tissues (p < .05). Then, the polymorphism locus g. 2918 A > C was detected in intron 2 of the FADS3 gene, and associated analysis showed that the mutation in the FADS3 gene was associated significantly with growth traits (including body weight, body height, body length, and chest circumference, p < .05). Therefore, individuals with AA genotype showed significantly better growth traits than those with CC genotype, and FADS3 gene could be a candidate gene for improving growth traits in Hu sheep.

Keywords:

• FADS3
• qRT-PCR
• association analysis
• growth traits
• Hu sheep

Author contributions

Xiaoxue Zhang, Wenxin Zheng and Xiwen Zeng conceived and designed the study. Liming Zhao, Jianghui Wang, Dan Xu, Jiangbo Cheng, Wenxin Li, Bubo Zhou and Changchun Lin participated in the RNA and DNA extraction. Xiwen Zeng, Xiaobin Yang, Rui Zhai, Zongwu Ma, Jia Liu, and Panpan Cui analyzed the data. Xiuxiu Weng, Weiwei Wu, Xiaolong Li, Yukun Zhang, Deyin Zhang and Yuan Zhao contributed to the feeding experiment and sample collection. Xiaoxue Zhang, Weimin Wang and Xiaobin Yang revised the manuscript. Xiwen Zeng wrote the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China [2021YFD1300901], the National for Joint Research on Improved Breeds of Livestock and Poultry [19210365], the West Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN) and Discipline Team Project of Gansu Agricultural University [No. GAU-XKTD-2022-20].