A splice site single nucleotide polymorphism of the fatty acid binding protein 4 gene appears to be associated with intramuscular fat deposition in longissimus muscle in Australian cattle.
Fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) is a candidate gene affecting fatness traits of mammals. However, its association with fatness traits in cattle and other livestock species is not consistent from one study to another. Here, we sequenced the coding sequence of FABP4 looking for non-synonymous variants. We identified a splice site mutation between the third exon and the third intron of bovine FABP4. We genotyped this SNP, FABP4:g.2502C>G, in 1409 cattle with intramuscular fat measurements from seven breeds. The average allele frequency of the C allele was 0.66 with a range of 0.45 to 0.85. A regression on the number of G alleles shows a statistically significant effect of alpha = 0.11, P = 0.044. This appears to confirm an association between IMF and variation at FABP4, with an effect of 0.3% of the variation in our sample when using this SNP.
Barendse
W
W
Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies, CSIRO Livestock Industries, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia 4067, Australia. bill.barendse@csiro.au
Bunch
R J
RJ
Thomas
M B
MB
Harrison
B E
BE
D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D001483:Base Sequence; D050218:Body Fat Distribution / Q000662:veterinary*; D002417:Cattle / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study / Q000662:veterinary; D005838:Genotype; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D022821:RNA Splice Sites / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary
D017931:DNA Primers; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins; D022821:RNA Splice Sites