Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2023, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (7): 2810-2823.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2023.07.014

• ANIMAL GENETICS AND BREEDING • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Correlation of Wnt3a Gene Polymorphism with Skin Follicle Traits in Chongren Partridge Chicken

CHEN Chun1,2, KANG Zhaofeng1, WEI Yue1, LI Guanhong2, WU Yanping1*, XIE Jinfang1*   

  1. 1. Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, China;
    2. College of Animal Science and Technology of Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330095, China
  • Received:2022-11-14 Online:2023-07-23 Published:2023-07-21

Abstract: The aim of this study was to analyze the correlation between genetic variant loci of Wnt family member 3a (Wnt3a) gene and skin hair follicle density in Chongren partridge chicken based on gene polymorphism.Six hundred Chongren partridge chickens, 200 protospecies hens and 100 roosters and 200 B strain hens and 100 roosters, reared under the same environment and the same management level until date of listing (120 d), were randomly selected in good health and condition. After slaughter, hair follicle density was measured at the same locations on the skin of the back, chest and thighs, the morphological structure of hair follicles was observed by HE staining of skin tissue sections, and the diameter of hair follicles and skin thickness were measured. The genetic variant loci of Wnt3a gene were screened by PCR amplification followed by direct sequencing, and their correlation with the hair follicle density of chicken skin was analyzed. The expression of Wnt3a gene in different skin sites was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR technique. The results showed that:1) Comparing the same sex and skin area of protospecies and B strain, the hair follicle density on the back of protospecies hens was extremely significantly higher than that of B strain (P<0.01), the hair follicle density on the thighs was significantly higher than that of B strain (P<0.05), and the hair follicle diameter on the back and thighs was significantly lower than that of B strain (P<0.05). The density of skin follicles on the back of the protospecies cock was highly significant higher than that of B strain (P<0.01), the density of hair follicles on the chest was highly significant lower than that of B strain (P<0.01), and the diameter of hair follicles on the back and thighs was significantly lower than that of B strain (P<0.05).The thickness of the skin on the chest of males in B strain was signifi-cantly higher than that of protospecies (P<0.05), and the thickness of the skin on the thighs of both males and females in B strain was significantly higher than that of protospecies (P<0.05). 2) Three SNPs loci were screened for the Wnt3a gene and their correlation with the skin follicle density at each site was analyzed. g.2555812 T>C and g.2555377 T>C loci were found to have significantly higher skin follicle density on the back of individuals with CC genotype than that of individuals with other genotypes (P<0.05). 3) Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR results showed that the Wnt3a gene in hair follicle tissues of all 3 skin sites of the protospecies and the B strain had relatively high expression, and the expression in the dorsal part of the protospecies was significantly higher than that in the dorsal part of the B strain (P<0.05). In conclusion, the skin pores of protospecies of Chongren partridge chicken were finer compared to the B strain, and the CC genotype of the Wnt3a gene at the g.2555812 T>C locus and the CC genotype at the g.2555377 T>C locus were favorable genotypes for the skin follicles of Chongren partridge chicken and could be used as molecular markers for the chicken skin follicle density trait. In this study, we investigated the genetic effects of Wnt3a as a candidate gene for hair follicle growth and develop-ment and the correlation between SNPs and skin hair follicle traits, in order to provide a reference basis for molecular marker screening and marker-assisted selection of quality chicken carcass packaging traits.

Key words: Chongren partridge chicken, hair follicle traits, Wnt3a gene, SNP loci, fluorescence quantification

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