Myostatin, a new member of the TGF-p superfamily, is predominantly expressed in skeletal muscle cells and functions as a negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth in animals. Recently, we have reported three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the chicken my-ostatin gene. Herein, we investigate the association of those SNPs with the production traits in a F2 chicken line derived from Broilers crossing to Silky with the least square analysis. The results show that the BB and AA genotypes are strongly associated with abdominal fat weight (AFW), abdominal fat percentage (AFP), and birth weight (BW) (P < 0.05). Breast muscle percentage (BMP) of the AA type is higher than that of the AB type. The breast muscle weight and breast muscle percentages of F2 individuals have significant difference between CC and DD genotypes (P< 0.05). Breast muscle weight (BMW) of EF birds is higher than that of EE birds (P< 0.05). In this report, we present the first genetic evidence to show that chicken myostatin not only plays an important role in controlling skeletal muscle growth and differentiation, but also may be involved in regulation of adipose growth in chicken.
GU Zhiliang, ZHU Dahai, LI Ming, LI Hui, DENG Xuemei & WU ChangxinMolecular and Cellular Developmental Biology Laboratory, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
