[en] Texel sheep are renowned for their exceptional meatiness. To identify the genes underlying this economically important feature, we performed a whole-genome scan in a Romanov x Texel F2 population. We mapped a quantitative trait locus with a major effect on muscle mass to chromosome 2 and subsequently fine-mapped it to a chromosome interval encompassing the myostatin (GDF8) gene. We herein demonstrate that the GDF8 allele of Texel sheep is characterized by a G to A transition in the 3' UTR that creates a target site for mir1 and mir206, microRNAs (miRNAs) that are highly expressed in skeletal muscle. This causes translational inhibition of the myostatin gene and hence contributes to the muscular hypertrophy of Texel sheep. Analysis of SNP databases for humans and mice demonstrates that mutations creating or destroying putative miRNA target sites are abundant and might be important effectors of phenotypic variation.
Disciplines :
Genetics & genetic processes Veterinary medicine & animal health
Author, co-author :
Clop, Alex ✱; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de productions animales > GIGA-R : Génomique animale
Marcq, Fabienne ✱; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département clinique des animaux de compagnie et des équidés > Département clinique des animaux de compagnie et des équidés
Takeda, Haruko ✱; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de productions animales > GIGA-R : Génomique animale
Pirottin, Dimitri ✱; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de sciences fonctionnelles > Département de sciences fonctionnelles
Tordoir, Xavier ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Dép. d'électric., électron. et informat. (Inst.Montefiore) > Systèmes et modélisation
Bibe, Bernard
Bouix, Jacques
Caiment, Florian ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de productions animales > GIGA-R : Génomique animale
Elsen, Jean-Michel
Eychenne, Francis
Larzul, Catherine
Laville, Elisabeth
Meish, Francoise
Milenkovic, Dragan
Tobin, James
Charlier, Carole ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de productions animales > GIGA-R : Génomique animale
Georges, Michel ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de productions animales > GIGA-R : Génomique animale
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