Association of the Leptin Gene with Carcass Characteristics in Nellore Cattle

Abstract

Advances in DNA technology have created biotechnological tools that can be used in animal selection and new strategies for increasing herd productivity and quality. The objective of the present work was to associate the genotypes of leptin gene exon 2 polymorphisms with productive traits in Nellore cattle. Blood was collected from Nellore males and PCR-RFLP reactions were performed with the restriction enzymes Cla I and Kpn 2I. The gene frequencies resulting from digestion by Cla I were 0.60 and 0.40 for allele A and T, respectively; the genotypic frequencies were AA = 0.20 and AT = 0.80. The gene frequencies from digestion by Kpn 2I were 0.81 for allele C and 0.194 for allele T; the genotypic frequencies were CC = 0.62 and CT = 0.38. The populations in both cases were not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p > 0.05), and the TT genotype was not found. Significant associations were noted between leptin gene exon 2 polymorphisms and five productive traits in Nellore cattle: carcass fat distribution, the intensity of red muscle coloration, pH, marbling, and post-slaughter fat thickness.

Polymorphisms Related to Bovine Leptin Gene and Association with Productive and Reproductive Traits in Nellore Heifers

“…For the C305T, there was a predominance of the C allele (82%) over the T allele (0.18) and higher frequency for the CC genotype (0.67), results that are similar with the study of Oliveira et al (2013) that used animals from Note: *The copy of the allele 138 appears only in heterozygosity, so the average values obtained for the reproductive traits are the same for the 138 allele, as there is only one copy.…”

“…Leptin is a peptide hormone produced primarily by adipocytes that play a role in body condition (Kowalski et al, 2014). Polymorphisms related to the leptin gene (LEP) and its receptor (LEPR) have been associated with several traits of economic relevance in the livestock sector (Buchanan et al, 2002;Komisarek & Dorynek, 2006;Ferraz et al, 2009;Oliveira et al, 2013;Silva et al, 2014).…”

Comparative genome-wide methylation analysis of longissimus dorsi muscles between Japanese black (Wagyu) and Chinese Red Steppes cattle

“…Many of the differentially methylated genes identified in the present study between Wagyu and Chinese Red Steppes are also found to be differentially methylated in genes related to lipid metabolism and fatty acid metabolism, such as fatty acid synthase ( FASN ) which is shown to be related to fatty acid composition in a genome-wide association study of Japanese black cattle [43], and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A ( CPT1A ), fatty acid desaturase 1 ( FADS1 ) and acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 1 ( ACSL1 ) genes which are well-known genes in the pathways of fatty acid metabolism and fatty acid degradation. In addition, other genes known to affect meat quality traits of cattle are also related to the lipid metabolism and fatty acid metabolism ( insulin like growth factor 2 ( IGF2 ), leptin ( OB ), lipase hormone sensitive ( HSL ), diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1 ( DGAT1 ) and fatty acid binding protein 3 ( FABP3 )) [44–49]. We believed that the methylation of these genes might partially contribute to the significant variance in meat quality traits between Japanese black cattle and Chinese Red Steppes.…”

The novel SNPs of leptin gene and their associations with growth traits in Chinese Nanjiang Yellow goat

“…Ten SNPs have been identified in the exonic regions of the LEP gene in Simmental bulls, with two nonsynonymous mutations resulting in the variable composition of fatty acid in muscle fat (Orru et al, 2011). Subsequently, significant associations were revealed between the exon 2 polymorphisms of the LEP gene and the carcass fat distribution, the intensity of red muscle coloration, pH, marbling, and post-slaughter fat thickness traits in Nellore cattle (de Oliveira et al, 2013). Likewise, the other two LEP SNPs (g.− 1457A N C and g.321C N T) were identified in Nellore cattle, and the sense mutation (g.321C N T) was associated with rump fat thickness and muscle color post-slaughter (Silva et al, 2014).…”