TITLE:
An Investigation of Polymorphism in SMO and LMF1 Genes and Their Association with Body Size in White Fulani and Muturu Cattle Breeds
AUTHORS:
Ridwan O. Ahmed, Semiu F. Bello, Ibrahim Shu’aibu, Matthew J. Hegarty
KEYWORDS:
Smoothened, Lipase Maturation Factor 1, Body Measurement Traits, White Fulani, Muturu, Polymorphism
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology,
Vol.11 No.7,
July
17,
2020
ABSTRACT: Cattle production is integral to the people of
Africa and her economy. To improve cattle
productivity, there is a need to inculcate molecular marker-assisted
selection into current breeding practices. In this study, we investigated, in White Fulani and Muturu cattle breeds,
polymorphism of two candidate genes (Smoothened—SMO and Lipase
Maturation Factor 1—LMF1)
that have been reported to influence body size in cattle. The SMO gene
encodes for the SMO (smoothened) receptor
protein; a membrane signal transducer that plays a role in the control
of bone formation and adipogenesis. LMF1 encodes for the LMF1 protein
which regulates post-translational maturation of vascular lipases.
Desired regions of the genes were amplified and genotyped by direct DNA sequencing or Polymerase chain reaction—Restriction
Fragment Length Polymorphism. For
association study, linear body measurements traits (BMTs) that can be
used to predict body size were measured on each animal and values of BMTs
measured were compared between both breeds. Very significant (P SMO while LMF1 was monomorphic at the expected (T
> C) exon 4 mutation site. Association analysis revealed that polymorphism
on G21234C, C22424T, T22939C and T23458G loci significantly affected BMTs (P
SMO gene could be a useful candidate
gene to facilitate marker assisted selection for body size while LMF1 is monomorphic in the cattle
breeds.