Influence of SNP mutations in FTO and LEP genes on body mass in bovine populations

Abstract

Body mass gain in a certain time period is one of the most important parameters in beef production. Some candidate genes, which have major impact on growth traits, are known from the literature, notably among them the FTO (fat mass and obesity-associated) and LEP (leptin) locus. In our experiment, we assessed the frequency of alleles at two polymorphic sites within the FTO gene (FTO6 and FTO10) and at polymorphic site in the LEP gene in a sample of Aberdeen Angus (AA) and Holstein Friesian (HF) breeds. In a larger sample, containing dairy and beef cattle breeds we tested the association of these three SNPs with the body mass gain in a 200-day period (between 165th and 365th day of age). In our material we could not confirm the linkage between two SNPs within the FTO locus, due to the existence of the region with high recombination rate between exon 5 and intron 5 in the FTO gene. We demonstrated significant impact of birth weight, breed and SNPs in the FTO gene on the growth. The effect of the polymorphic site within the LEP gene could not be confirmed.

Keywords

• cattle
• SNP
• body mass gain
• leptin
• genetics
• candidate genes