Highly Conserved Keratin-Associated Protein 7-1 Gene in Yak, Taurine and Zebu Cattle

Arlud, Sarnai; He, N.; Sari, Eka M.; Ma, Z.-J.; Zhang, H.; An, T.-W.; Han, J.-L.

doi:10.14712/fb2017063040139

Folia Biologica > Archive > 2017, Vol. 63 > Issue 4 > Highly Conserved Keratin-Associated…

Fol. Biol. 2017, 63, 139-145

https://doi.org/10.14712/fb2017063040139

Highly Conserved Keratin-Associated Protein 7-1 Gene in Yak, Taurine and Zebu Cattle

Sarnai Arlud^1,2, N. He², Eka M. Sari³, Z.-J. Ma⁴, H. Zhang⁵, T.-W. An⁶, J.-L. Han^1,7

¹CAAS-ILRI Joint Laboratory on Livestock and Forage Genetic Resources, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, China
²Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Inner Mongolia International Mongolian Hospital, Hohhot, China
³Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, Indonesia
⁴Academy of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai, China
⁵Tongren Polytechnic College, Tongren, Guizhou, China
⁶Sichuan Academy of Grassland Science, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
⁷International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya

Received June 2017
Accepted August 2017

Keratin-associated proteins (KRTAPs) play a critical role in cross-linking the keratin intermediate filaments to build a hair shaft. The genetic polymorphisms of the bovine KRTAP7-1 gene were investigated for the first time in this study. The complete coding sequence of the KRTAP7-1 gene in 108 domestic yak, taurine and zebu cattle from China and Indonesia were successfully amplified using polymerase chain reaction and then directly sequenced. Only two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (one nonsynonymous at c.7C/G and another synonymous at c.21C/T) and three haplotypes (BOVIN-KRTAP7-1*A, B and C) were identified in the complete coding sequence of the bovine KRTAP7-1 gene among all animals. There was no polymorphism across three Chinese indigenous yak breeds and one Indonesian zebu cattle population, all sharing the BOVIN-KRTAP7-1*A haplotype. The four taurine cattle populations also had BOVIN-KRTAP7-1*A as the most common haplotype with a frequency of 0.80. The frequency of novel haplotype BOVIN-KRTAP7-1*B was only 0.07 present in one heterozygous animal in each of the four taurine cattle populations, while BOVIN-KRTAP7-1*C was only found in a Simmental and a local Chinese Yellow cattle population with frequencies of 0.17 and 0.36, respectively. The monomorphic yak KRTAP7-1 gene in particular, and highly conserved bovine, sheep and goat KRTAP7-1 genes in general, demonstrated its unique intrinsic structural property (e.g., > 21% high glycine content) and primary functional importance in supporting the mechanical strength and shape of hair.

Keywords

bovine, evolution, function, keratin-associated protein 7-1, polymorphism.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Key Project of Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs funded by the Ministry of Science & Technology of China during the 11th ‘Five-Year’ Plan (No. 2008BADB2B01) and also funding to the CAAS-ILRI joint laboratory from CAAS.