PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Xu, Q.L.
AU  - Tang, G.W.
AU  - Zhang, Q.L.
AU  - Huang, Y.K.
AU  - Liu, Y.X.
AU  - Quan, K.
AU  - Zhu, K.Y.
AU  - Zhang, C.X.
TI  - The FABP4 gene polymorphism is associated with meat tenderness in three Chinese native sheep breeds
DP  - 2011 Jan 31
TA  - Czech Journal of Animal Science
PG  - 1--6
VI  - 56
IP  - 1
AID - 10.17221/231/2009-CJAS
IS  - 12121819
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.