FABP3 and FABP4 Genes Are the Potential Candidates for Body Weights in Korean Native Chicken

Abstract

FABPs, 15 kDa organic substances, are small intracellular proteins which have a primary role to regulate fatty acid uptake and intracellular transport. This study was conducted to identify SNPs in the two FABP family genes and their associations with the body weight traits in Korean native chicken (KNC). Two SNPs, namely g.508C>T of FABP3 gene and g.285C>T of FABP4 gene, have been genotyped by using PCR-RFLP method. The results showed that FABP3 was significantly associated with body weight at birth, body weights at 12 to 20 weeks, and also slaughter weight. Moreover, the g.285C>T SNP of FABP4 gene was not associated with any body weight traits. These results suggested that the g.508C>T SNP of FABP3 genes can be used as molecular markers to select KNC having desirable body weights.