Polymorphisms of KLF3 gene coding region and identification of their functionality for abdominal fat in chickens

Abstract

Abstract KLF3 is a member of the Kruppel‐like factor (KLF) family of transcription factors, and plays an important role in several biological processes, including adipogenesis, erythropoiesis and B‐cell development. The purposes of this study are to search for polymorphisms of KLF3 coding region and to provide functional evidence for abdominal fat in chickens. A total of 168 SNPs in KLF3 coding region were detected in a unique chicken population, the Northeast Agricultural University broiler lines divergently selected for abdominal fat content (NEAUHLF). Of which three single nucleotide polymorphisms (g.3452T > C, g.8663A > G and g.10751G > A) were significantly correlated with abdominal fat weight (AFW) and abdominal fat percentage (AFP) of 329 birds from the 19th generation of NEAUHLF (FDR A (p A is a functional variant that potential would be applied to marker‐assisted selection (MAS) for selective breeding programme.

Keywords

• abdominal fat
• chicken
• functional variants
• Kruppel‐like factor 3
• reporter gene assay