New SNPs of the Duck LPL Gene are Associated with Body Weight, Fatness and Carcass Traits

Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL) is a multifunctional protein that plays a major role in the hydrolysis of triglycerides present in chylomicrons and very low-density lipoproteins. This study was designed to investigate the effects of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) of the duck LPL gene on fatness and carcass and growth traits. A White Kaiya x White Liancheng F-2 population with a total of 1 069 individuals was used in the present study, 440 healthy ducks randomly selected from this population were slaughtered at 80 days of age. PCR-Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and sequencing methods were used to detect SNPs in the duck LPL gene. Two new SNPs (C645T and G726A) were discovered in exons 5 and genotyped using the PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) Method. Genotyping results showed that the genotype distribution differed between males and females, thus the association analyses were performed separately for males and females. Association analyses indicated that the SNPs were significantly associated with body weight, fatness and carcass traits (p<0.05 or p<0.01). We concluded that LPL is a major gene or is linked with a major gene that influences body weight, fatness and carcass traits and that C645T and G726A could be used as candidate molecular genetic markers for breeding selection.