Relationship between an indel mutation within the SIRT4 gene and growth traits in Chinese cattle

Abstract

Growth traits are mainly determined by genetic factors. SIRT4, a class II sirtuin, predominantly acts as an ADP-ribosyltransferase and inhibits fatty acid oxidation. In this study, a total of 1005 cattle belonging to five indigenous Chinese breeds were used to evaluate the relationship between the potential insertions/deletions (indels) within the SIRT4 gene and growth traits. The results revealed that only one intronic variation was present, which showed Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (p > 0.05) in all the populations. The relationship analyses indicated that this indel was significantly associated with growth traits (p < 0.05), implying that SIRT4 significantly affects the growth traits. Therefore, the deletion mutation within the SIRT4 gene could be considered as a molecular marker to screen for growth traits in the cattle industry.

Keywords:

• Cattle
• SIRT4
• insertion/deletion (indel)
• growth traits
• association

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Post-doctoral innovation fund of Shandong province [201703053], The Sustentative Research Project of China Ministry of Science and Technology [grant number 2015BAD03B04] and the program of National Beef Cattle and Yak Industrial Technology System [grant number CARS-37].