AUTHOR=Xiao Meimei , Ruan Yong , Huang Jiajin , Dai Lingang , Xu Jiali , Xu Houqiang 

TITLE=Association analysis between Acetyl-Coenzyme A Acyltransferase-1 gene polymorphism and growth traits in Xiangsu pigs

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2024.1346903

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2024.1346903

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Acetyl-Coenzyme A Acyltransferase-1 (<italic>ACAA1</italic>) is a peroxisomal acyltransferase involved in fatty acid metabolism. Current evidence does not precisely reveal the effect of the <italic>ACAA1</italic> gene on pig growth performance.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>The present study assessed the mRNA expression levels of the <italic>ACAA1</italic> gene in the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney of 6-month-old Xiangsu pigs and in the longissimus dorsi muscle at different growth stages (newborn, 6 months and 12 months of age) using RT-qPCR. The relationship between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of <italic>ACAA1</italic> gene and growth traits in 6-month-old and 12-month-old Xiangsu pigs was investigated on 184 healthy Xiangsu pigs using Sanger sequencing.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The <italic>ACAA1</italic> gene was expressed in heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, and longissimus dorsi muscle of 6-month-old pigs, with the highest level of expression in the liver. <italic>ACAA1</italic> gene expression in the longissimus dorsi muscle decreased with age (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01). In addition, four SNPs were identified in the <italic>ACAA1</italic> gene, including exon g.48810 A&gt;G (rs343060194), intron g.51546 T&gt;C (rs319197012), exon g.55035 T&gt;C (rs333279910), and exon g.55088 C&gt;T (rs322138947). Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (<italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.05) was found for the four SNPs, and linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis revealed a strong LD between g.55035 T&gt;C (rs333279910) and g.55088 C&gt;T (rs322138947) (<italic>r</italic><sup><italic>2</italic></sup> = 1.000). Association analysis showed that g.48810 A&gt;G (rs343060194), g.51546 T&gt;C (rs319197012), g.55035 T&gt;C (rs333279910), and g.55088 C&gt;T (rs322138947) varied in body weight, body length, body height, abdominal circumference, leg and hip circumference and living backfat thickness between 6-month-old and 12-month-old Xiangsu pigs.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>These findings strongly demonstrate that the <italic>ACAA1</italic> gene can be exploited for marker-assisted selection to improve growth-related phenotypes in Xiangsu pigs and present new candidate genes for molecular pig breeding.</p></sec>