Single nucleotide polymorphisms in intron 1 and intron 2 of Larimichthys crocea growth hormone gene are correlated with growth traits

The growth hormone gene (GH) affects animal growth and is a potential target for genetic studies of variation related to growth traits. In this study, we analyzed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GH intron regions and their associations with growth traits in large yellow croaker, Larimichthys crocea, from Zhejiang and Fujian stocks. The results of PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism showed two haplotypes of intron 1, named AA and AB genotypes, in Zhejiang stock. AB exhibited an SNP at position 196 (G -> A) that was negatively correlated with body height and positively correlated with standard length/body height (P <= 0.05). Two different genotypes, CC and CD, were identified in intron 2 in Fujian stock, with CD showing an SNP at position 692 (T -> C). The CD genotype had a significantly positive correlation with both weight and total length (P <= 0.01). These basic data highlight the potential for using GH as a genetic marker of fish growth in marker assisted selection.