Simple Summary
Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) plays a critical role in myoblast proliferation and fat deposition in animals, and our previous RNA-Seq analyses suggest that it is a candidate gene closely linked to muscle development. The effect of this gene on the body characteristics of animals has been investigated to a limited extent. Here, an analysis of 548 samples from three breeds examined the relationship between two insertion/deletion polymorphisms (del19008 and del72416) of the goat JAK2 gene and body traits. The results showed that del19008 was associated with body height, body length, and trunk index. Locus del72416 was associated with BL, BH, TI, HuW, ChC, ChW, BLI, ChCI, CWI, and HuWI. In addition, the effect of the two InDels on the Nubian group was emphasized in terms of body height. Thus, these loci should be able to provide molecular markers for improving the body traits of goats.
Abstract
Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) plays a critical role in myoblast proliferation and fat deposition in animals. Our previous RNA-Seq analyses identified a close association between the JAK2 gene and muscle development. To date, research delving into the relationship between the JAK2 gene and growth traits has been sparse. In this study, we sought to investigate the relationship between novel mutations within the JAK2 gene and goat growth traits. Herein, two novel InDel (Insertion/Deletion) polymorphisms within the JAK2 gene were detected in 548 goats, and only two genotypes were designated as ID (Insertion/Deletion) and DD (Deletion/Deletion). The results indicate that the two InDels, the del19008 locus in intron 2 and del72416 InDel in intron 6, showed significant associations with growth traits (p < 0.05). Compared to Nubian and Jianzhou Daer goats, the del72416 locus displayed a more pronounced effect in the Fuqing breed group. In the Nubian breed (NB) group, both InDels showed a marked influence on body height (BH). There were strong linkages observed for these two InDels between the Fuqing (FQ) and Jianzhou (JZ) populations. The DD-ID diplotype was associated with inferior growth traits in chest width (ChW) and cannon circumference (CaC) in the FQ goats compared to the other diplotypes. In the NB population, the DD-DD diplotype exhibited a marked negative impact on BH and HuWI (hucklebone width index), in contrast to the other diplotypes. In summary, our findings suggest that the two InDel polymorphisms within the JAK2 gene could serve as valuable molecular markers for enhancing goat growth traits in breeding programs.