title: Association of TNP2 gene polymorphisms of the bta-miR-154 target site with the semen quality traits of Chinese Holstein bulls.
abstract: Transition protein 2 (TNP2) participates in removing nucleohistones and the initial condensation of spermatid nucleus during spermiogenesis. This study investigated the relationship between the variants of the bovine TNP2 gene and the semen quality traits of Chinese Holstein bulls. We detected three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the TNP2 gene in 392 Chinese Holstein bulls, namely, g.269 G>A (exon 1), g.480 C>T (intron 1), and g.1536 C>T (3'-UTR). Association analysis showed that the semen quality traits of the Chinese Holstein bulls was significantly affected by the three SNPs. The bulls with the haplotypic combinations H6H4, H6H6, and H6H8 had higher initial semen motility than those with the H7H8 and H8H4 haplotypic combinations (P<0.05). SNPs in the microRNA (miRNA) binding region of the TNP2 gene 3'-UTR may have contributed to the phenotypic differences. The phenotypic differences are caused by the altered expression of the miRNAs and their targets. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that the g.1536 C>T site in the TNP2 3'-UTR is located in the bta-miR-154 binding region. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction results showed that the TNP2 mRNA relative expression in bulls with the CT and CC genotypes was significantly higher than those with the TT genotype (P<0.05) in the g.1536 C>T site. The luciferase assay also indicated that bta-miR-154 directly targets TNP2 in a murine Leydig cell tumor cell line. The SNP g.1536 C>T in the TNP2 3'-UTR, which altered the binding of TNP2 with bta-miR-154, was found to be associated with the semen quality traits of Chinese Holstein bulls.
authors.affiliation: Dairy Cattle Research Center, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, Jinan, PR China ; College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Dairy Cattle Research Center, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhihua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.affiliation: Dairy Cattle Research Center, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Dairy Cattle Research Center, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Jinming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Dairy Cattle Research Center, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaojian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Dairy Cattle Research Center, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Dairy Cattle Research Center, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianbin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Dairy Cattle Research Center, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Jifeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Guorong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Dairy Cattle Research Center, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Science, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Changfa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002417:Cattle; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005838:Genotype; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D055101:Semen Analysis; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D035683:MicroRNAs; C053886:spermatid transition proteins