SNPs in the myostatin gene of the mollusk Chlamys farreri: Association with growth traits

Myostatin (MSTN) is a member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily which negatively regulates growth of muscle tissue. In this study, 103 cultivated Chlamys farreri individuals were screened for polymorphisms in the MSTN gene using PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and DNA sequencing methods. Two mutations were found: A/G at position 327 in exon 2, which caused an amino acid change from Thr to Ala (Thr305Ala), and C/T at position 289 in exon 3, which caused an amino acid change from Cys to Arg (Cys422Arg). One way ANOVA of the SNPs and growth traits showed that genotype GG of primer M5 had significantly higher body mass, soft-tissue mass, adductor muscle mass, shell length, shell height, absolute growth rate of shell height and body mass than those of genotype AG and AA (P < 0.05). Genotype frequencies of genotype AA, AG and GG were 68.94%, 27.18% and 3.88%, respectively. The results present evidence that the C. farreri MSTN gene may be selected as a candidate gene for these growth traits.