Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 May 29:12:1583625.
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1583625. eCollection 2025.

Identification of microsatellites and their effect on economic traits of Texel × Kazakh sheep

Yang Cunming #  1   2 , Bin Li #  1   3 , Zhu Mengting  1 , Yiming Sulaiman  1 , Sangang He  3 , Mingjun Liu  3
Affiliations

Identification of microsatellites and their effect on economic traits of Texel × Kazakh sheep

Yang Cunming et al. Front Vet Sci. .

Abstract

Introduction: Mutton has the advantages of delicious taste, high nutrition, and easy digestion. It is important to improve the production and quality of mutton in mutton sheep breeding. Microsatellite locus marker-assisted breeding is widely used to breed excellent traits of various species. It is important to search for microsatellite markers related to the economic traits (mutton production and fat content) of mutton sheep.

Methods: This study aimed to explore the relationship between 11 microsatellite loci of Texel × Kazakh sheep and 12 economic traits and to seek potential loci related to the mutton production (PW: Pre-slaughter weight, CW: Carcass weight, TAW: Total breast and abdomen weight, TLT: Total weight of left anterior tendon, TLL: Total weight of left hip and leg, LD: Longissimus dorsi, OMA: Ocular muscle area) and fat deposition levels (TFW: Tail fat weight, MFW: Mesenteric fat weight, KFW: Kidney fat weight, BFT: Back fat thickness and GR: GR value) of mutton sheep.

Results: Genetic analysis of the 108 Texel × Kazakh sheep hybrid population revealed 81 alleles across all loci, with a mean number of alleles (MNA) of 7.364. The population exhibited moderate observed heterozygosity (Ho = 0.610), high expected heterozygosity (He = 0.785), and substantial polymorphism (polymorphism information content, PIC = 0.759), indicating robust genetic diversity. Notably, the AMEL locus demonstrated significant associations with MFW (η2 = 0.319) and KFW (η2 = 0.347), while the INRA023 locus influenced CW (η2 = 0.260) (adjusted p < 0.05). No other loci showed statistically significant trait correlations after multiple-testing correction. The HH genotype at AMEL and AD genotype at INRA023 emerged as pivotal molecular markers, collectively explaining 26.0-34.7% of phenotypic variance in meat yield traits.

Discussion: These findings establish a theoretical framework for precision breeding strategies, offering actionable solutions to enhance meat productivity in ovine populations through marker-assisted selection (MAS).

Keywords: Texel × Kazakh sheep; economic traits; genetic diversity; microsatellite locus markers; relationship.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

    1. Chikwanha OC, Vahmani P, Muchenje V, Dugan MER, Mapiye C. Nutritional enhancement of sheep meat fatty acid profile for human health and wellbeing. Food Res Int. (2018) 104:25–38. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2017.05.005 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ding W, Lu Y, Xu B, Chen P, Li A, Jian F, et al. Meat of sheep: insights into mutton evaluation, nutritive value, influential factors, and interventions. Agriculture. (2024) 14:1060. doi: 10.3390/agriculture14071060 - DOI
    1. Dawut A, Tian Y. Competitiveness of Xinjiang’s mutton industry based on diamond model. PLoS One. (2021) 16:e0257669. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257669, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arranz JJ, Bayón Y, San PF. Genetic relationships among Spanish sheep using microsatellites. Anim Genet. (1998) 29:435–40. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2052.1998.296371.x, PMID: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ahlawat SPS, Sunder J, Kundu A, Chatterjee RN, Rai RB, Kumar B, et al. Use of RAPD-PCR for genetic analysis of Nicobari fowl of Andamans. Br Poult Sci. (2004) 45:194–200. doi: 10.1080/00071660410001715795, PMID: - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources