title: A novel genetic variant of the  goat Six6 gene and its association with production traits in Chinese  goat breeds.
abstract: We  looked for novel genetic variations within the Six6 gene by PCR-SSCP,  DNA sequencing and forced RFLP-PCR and estimated their associations with production  traits in 2132 goats of eight indigenous Chinese breeds. A novel single  nucleotide polymorphism (NM_001104993.1: g.232T>C) within the goat Six6 gene  was identified. The frequencies of allele "C" varied from 0.8621 to 1.000,  which were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Genotype and allele frequencies were  found to be significantly different in the breeds. Association analysis  revealed a significant relationship between genotypes and cannon circumference  in Hainan black goats (P = 0.047); adult individuals with genotype CT showed  higher cannon circumference than those with genotype CC. Another significant  association of genotypes with five-year-old fiber length was found in Inner  Mongolia white cashmere goats (P = 0.002). In addition, individuals with genotype  CT had longer fiber length than those with genotype CC. The data revealed that  the Six6 gene positively affects growth traits and cashmere traits.  Polymorphism of Six6-PstI could be useful as a DNA marker for  goat breeding and genetics via marker-assisted selection.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: X Y
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Y T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Huai
authors.forename: C Z
authors.initials: CZ
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001947:Breeding; D002681:China; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D056426:Genetic Loci / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006041:Goats / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins