title: Identification of single  nucleotide polymorphisms in the CCNA2 gene and its association with wool  density in Rex rabbits.
abstract: The Rex  rabbit is a typical fur breed. Wool density, hair length, wool fineness, and  hide area are the main indices of fur quality. We previously found that the  CCNA2 gene plays an important role in hair follicle initiation and development,  and it is involved in the distinctive wool density of the Rex rabbit. It is an  important candidate gene for wool density selection through marker-assisted  selection. We conducted an association study to identify single nucleotide  polymorphisms (SNPs) within the CCNA2 gene and their ligands associated with  wool density. Using PCR-RFLP technology, we discovered two SNPs (129G>A and  1140G>C) of the CCNA2 gene. Allele frequencies of these two SNPs were  investigated and evaluated by the χ(2) test in  100 Rex rabbits. The two SNPs were both in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. We also  looked for a potential association of these SNPs with fur traits in 100 Rex  rabbits. Rex rabbits with the GG genotype had significantly higher wool density  (P < 0.01) than those with other genotypes; the other three fur traits did  not differ significantly among the genotypes. In conclusion, the two SNPs of  the CCNA2 gene affect wool density in the Rex rabbit.
authors.affiliation: Mountain Area Research Institute, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, Hebei, PR China.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Y T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Z L
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D056751:Cyclin A2 / Q000235:genetics*; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D011817:Rabbits / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014935:Wool / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D056751:Cyclin A2