PT Journal
AU Xu, Q
   Tang, G
   Zhang, Q
   Huang, Y
   Liu, Y
   Quan, K
   Zhu, K
   Zhang, C
TI The FABP4 gene polymorphism is associated with meat tenderness in three Chinese native sheep breeds
SO Czech Journal of Animal Science
PY 2011
BP 1
EP 6
VL 56
IS 1
DI 10.17221/231/2009-CJAS
DE sheep; FABP4 gene; polymorphism; intramuscular fat
AB The aim of this study was to assess the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of sheep fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) gene with longissimus thoracis muscle (LT) meat quality traits in sheep. The FABP4 cDNA was cloned by RT-PCR method, and the sequence analysis showed that the open reading frame of sheep FABP4 is 399 bp and codes 132 amino acids. A mutation (A/G) detected in intron 1 of FABP4 gene was studied in 286 lambs of three Chinese native sheep breeds by PCR-SSCP procedure. Significant statistical association results revealed that AA genotype conferred higher tenderness (P < 0.05), muscle marbling score (P < 0.05) and intramuscular fat content (IMF; P < 0.05). Thus we suggested that the genotype AA could be regarded as a molecular marker for LT meat tenderness and IMF content in sheep.
ER