Association Analysis on Polymorphisms of AQP7 Gene Intron 4 with Growth Traits in Jiaxian Cattle

The objectives were to research the genetic variations in intron 4 of AQP7 gene in Jiaxian cattle, and analyze the influence of genetic polymorphisms on growth traits.PCR-SSCP technique, DNA sequence analysis and bioinformatics were used to analyze the association between the polymorphisms of the intron 4 of AQP7 gene and growth traits in Jiaxian cattle.The results showed that there were three alleles A, B, C in this locus with the corresponding frequencies of 0.838, 0.076 and 0.086;The polymorphisms of the intron 4 of AQP7 gene had significant association with body weight and chest circumference (P< 0.05), while had no significant association with other growth traits (P> 0.05).The individuals with BC genotype was significantly higher than those of individuals with other genotypes in body weight and chest circumference (P< 0.05).It suggested that BC genotype had positive effect on growth traits, and the correlation was detected between the polymorphisms of the intron 4 of AQP7 gene and growth traits in Jiaxian cattle.So AQP7 gene could be used as a candidate gene for molecular marker assisted selection of growth traits in Jiaxian cattle.