Identification of two SNPs in myostatin (MSTN) gene of Takifugu rubripes and their association with growth traits

• We found two SNPs in Takifugu rubripes myostatin (MSTN) gene.
• One SNPs is association with growth traits of T. rubripes.
• MSTN gene can act as a candidate gene for muscle growth in T. rubripes breeding.

The myostatin (MSTN) is a member of transforming growth factor-β superfamily which inhibits muscle growth. In this study, the genomic DNA sequence of MSTN gene was cloned from Takifugu rubripes (T. rubripes). Two polymorphisms of the MSTN gene were detected by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR–SSCP) and DNA sequencing methods in 296 T. rubripes. One A748G locates in exon 2 and the other, C1197T, in intron 2. Analysis showed that the A748G mutation caused an amino acid change from Thr to Ala (Ala166Glu). These two SNPs showed a low degree of linkage disequilibrium and four haplotypes were identified. The most frequent haplotype was AC, which occurred at a frequency of 44.3%. Association analyses between these two SNPs and growth traits showed that the individuals with genotype CT and TT of the mutation C1197T had significantly higher body mass, body length and body height than those with genotype CC (P < 0.05). These results show that MSTN gene can be utilized as a candidate gene for molecular marker-assisted breeding of T. rubripes.