Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 October 2008
Intron 5 of the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) gene was cloned and its single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was tested by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) in Wanxi White geese (WW) (Anser anser). The carcass, meat quality and feather-down traits of 116 geese from WW males×Sichuan White goose (A. anser) females were assessed and analysed in association with SNP. The results showed that the sequence length of intron 5 of the HMGR gene in geese was 704 bp, and the homology between goose and chicken was 44.0%. A SNP site was tested in intron 5 by PCR-SSCP, and frequencies of alleles A and B at the SNP site were 0.7716 and 0.2284, respectively. The effects of genotype AA were significant, not only on an increase of chest muscle weight, stomach gland weight (P<0.05), fibre diameter of chest muscle and 1000-down weight (P<0.01), but also on a decrease of down water-holding percentage and pH of chest muscle 45 min after slaughterP<0.05). The effect of genotype AB was in the opposite direction to that of genotype AA.
First published in Journal of Agricultural Biotechnology 2007, 15(6): 936–941