Variation in the Lipin 1 Gene Is Associated with Birth Weight and Selected Carcass Traits in New Zealand Romney Sheep

• Main Authors: Guan Wang, Huitong Zhou, Hua Gong, Jianning He, Yuzhu Luo, Jon G. H. Hickford, Jiang Hu, Jiqing Wang, Xiu Liu, Shaobin Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-02-01
• Series: Animals
• Subjects: lipin 1 gene (<i>lpin1</i>); nucleotide variation; pcr-sscp; birth weight; meat yield
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/2/237

Lipin 1 plays an important role in lipid metabolism. In this study; we searched for variation in the ovine lipin 1 gene (<i>LPIN1</i>) in three gene regions (a 5&#8242; non-coding region; a region containing an alternatively spliced exon in intron 4; and a region containing coding exon 6) using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis. The greatest amount of alleles was found in coding exon 6; with five sequences being detected. The effect of variation in this exon was investigated in 242 New Zealand Romney lambs derived from 12 sire-lines. The presence of variant <i>E</i>₃ was associated with a decrease in birth weight (<i>p</i> = 0.005) and the proportion of leg yield (<i>p</i> = 0.045), but with an increase in hot carcass weight (<i>p</i> = 0.032) and the proportion of loin yield (<i>p</i> = 0.014). The presence of variant <i>B</i>₃ was associated with an increased pre-weaning growth rate (<i>p</i> = 0.041), whereas the presence of variant <i>C</i>₃ was associated with an increase in shoulder yield (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). These results suggest that ovine <i>LPIN1</i> variation may have value as a genetic marker for improving meat production and carcass traits.