Preliminary study on polymorphism analysis of SpRunt-1 gene by PCR–SSCP in Strongylocentrotus intermedius and its association with growth traits

In current study, the SpRunt-1 gene was screened for the polymorphisms using PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR–SSCP) and DNA sequencing methods in Strongylocentrotus intermedius (S. intermedius). Three polymorphisms were found with two site mutations, G833A and C1505T mutation, and an insertion mutation (GT) between 931 nt and 932 nt. These two site mutations are synonymous mutations and the insertion mutation is frame shift mutation. One way ANOVA analysis of correlation between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and growth traits showed that the gonad weight of AA genotype (G at 833 nt) was significantly higher than that of BB genotype (A at 833 nt) (P = 0.029). The body weight of the CC genotype (C at 1505 nt) was significantly higher than that of DD genotype (T at 1505 nt) (P < 0.01) and the shell height of CD genotype was significantly higher than that of DD genotype (P = 0.032). These results provided the evidence that S. intermedius SpRunt-1 gene could be selected as a candidate gene for the growth traits.