Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the microRNA miR‐1596 locus with residual feed intake in chickens. (27th March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Luo, C.; Sun, L.; Ma, J.; Wang, J.; Qu, H.; Shu, D.
• Is Part Of: Animal genetics. Volume 46:Number 3(2015:Jun.)
• Page Start: 265
• Page End: 271
• Publication Date: 2015-03-27
• Subjects: Animal genetics -- Periodicals; 572.8
• DOI: 10.1111/age.12284
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0268-9146

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="age12284-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <p>MicroRNAs are an abundant class of small non‐coding RNAs that regulate gene expression. Genetic variations in microRNA sequences may be associated with phenotype differences by influencing the expression of microRNAs and/or their targets. This study identified two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genomic region of the microRNA <italic>miR‐1596</italic> locus of chicken. Of the two SNPs, one was 95 bp upstream of <italic>miR‐1596</italic> (g.5678784A>T) and the other was in the middle of the sequence producing the mature microRNA gga‐miR‐1596‐3p (g.5678944A>G). Genotypic distribution of the two SNPs had large differences among 12 chicken breeds (lines), especially between the fast‐growing commercial lines and the slow‐growing Chinese indigenous breeds for the g.5678784A>T SNP. Only the g.5678784A>T SNP was significantly associated with residual feed intake (RFI) in the F<sub>2</sub> population derived from a fast‐growing and a slow‐growing broiler as well as in the pure Huiyang bearded chicken. The birds with the <italic>AA</italic> genotype of the g.5678784A>T SNP had lower RFI and higher expression of the mature gga‐miR‐1596‐3p microRNA of <italic>miR‐1596</italic> than did those with the other genotypes of the same SNP. We also found that the expression of the mature gga‐miR‐1596‐3p microRNA of <italic>miR‐1596</italic> was significantly associated with RFI. These findings suggest that <italic>miR‐1596</italic> can become a candidate gene related to RFI, and its genetic variation may contribute to changes in RFI by altering expression levels of the mature gga‐miR‐1596‐3p microRNA in chicken.</p> </abstract>