Polymorphisms in SHISA3 and RFC3 genes and their association with feed conversion ratio in Hu sheep

• Published in: Frontiers in Veterinary Science
• Main Authors: Changchun Lin, Weimin Wang, Deyin Zhang, Kai Huang, Xiaolong Li, Yukun Zhang, Yuan Zhao, Jianghui Wang, Bubo Zhou, Jiangbo Cheng, Dan Xu, Wenxin Li, Liming Zhao, Zongwu Ma, Xiaobin Yang, Yongliang Huang, Panpan Cui, Jia Liu, Xiwen Zeng, Rui Zhai, Landi Sun, Xiuxiu Weng, Weiwei Wu, Xiaoxue Zhang, Wenxin Zheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-01-01
• Subjects: association analysis; SHISA3; RFC3; feed conversion ratio; tissue expression; Hu sheep
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.1010045/full

In animal husbandry, feed efficiency is a crucial economic trait. In this study, the general linear model was used to perform association analysis for various genotypes and feed conversion ratio (FCR)-related traits. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the expression of SHISA3 and RFC3 mRNA levels in 10 tissues from 6 sheep. The results showed that SNPs in the NC_040257.1:c.625 T > C and NC_040261.1:g.9905 T > C were analyzed whether they were associated to feed efficiency parameters in Hu sheep (body weight, feed intake, average daily growth, and feed conversion ratio). NC_040257.1:c.625 T > C was shown to be significantly associated with body weight at 80, 100, and 120 days as well as feed conversion ratio (P < 0.05), whereas NC_040261.1:g.9905 T > C was found to be significantly associated with average daily weight gain from 80-140 days (ADG80-140) and FCR (P < 0.05). In Hu sheep, the CC genotypes of SHISA3 and RFC3 were the most common genotypes related to feed efficiency traits. Furthermore, the feed conversion ratio of the combined genotypes TTSHISA3-CCRFC3, TTSHISA3-CTRFC3, TTSHISA3-TTRFC3, CTSHISA3-CCRFC3 and CTSHISA3-CTRFC3 was significantly better than the FCR of CCSHISA3-TTRFC3. RT-qPCR results showed that the expression levels of SHISA3 were lower in the lung than in spleen, kidney, muscle and lymph (P < 0.05), and RFC3 was the lung had a highly significant higher expression level than the heart, liver, spleen, and muscle (P < 0.01). In conclusion, SHISA3 and RFC3 polymorphisms can be used as genetic markers for improving feed conversion efficiency in Hu sheep.