Association of Polymorphism in the BovineLeptinGene Exon2 with Carcass Traits in Chinese Qinchuan Cattle

Abstract Liu, H.Y., Zan, L.S., Xin, Y.P. and Tian, W.Q. 2010. Association of polymorphism in the bovine leptin gene exon2 with carcass traits in Chinese qinchuan cattle. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 37: 221–224. Leptin gene plays an important role in the regulation of feed intake, fat deposition, energy metabolism, fertility and immune functions. This study was aimed at investigating the effects of leptin gene polymorphism on carcass traits in Chinese qinchuan cattle. Polymorphism was detected by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and DNA sequencing. A C73T polymorphism in exon2 was found in the bovine leptin gene with carcass and meat quality traits in beef cattle. The exon2 C73T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was significantly associated with live weight (LW) and logissimus muscle area (LMA). Animals with the genotype CC and CT had higher LW than the TT genotype (P<0.05); with genotype CC and CT had lower LMA than TT genotype (P<0.05). These results suggested that...