Evaluation of three candidate genes affecting fatty acid composition in pigs

Abstract

The association of three candidate genes, fatty acid synthase (FASN), microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTTP) and fatty acid binding protein 3 (FABP3), with fatty acid (FA) composition in Duroc pigs was investigated. Identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were used for polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism genotyping. The c.265C>T SNP of FASN gene was significantly associated with high levels of palmitoleic acid (C16:1) (p<0.05), oleic acid (C18:1) (p<0.01), and mono-unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) (p<0.01), but low levels of linoleic acid (C18:2) (p<0.01), alpha linolenic acid (C18:3) (p<0.05), and poly-unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) (p<0.01) in animals having the CT genotype. The c.2573T>C SNP in the MTTP gene had a significant effect only in elevating the level of palmitoleic acid (C16:1) (p<0.05) in heterozygote animals. The polymorphism in FABP3 showed no significant effects on any fatty acid composition traits. These results suggest that the identified SNPs in the FASN and MTTP genes can be useful markers for selecting Duroc pigs having desirable healthy fatty acid composition.