Polymorphisms identification and associations of KLF7 gene with cattle growth traits

The Kruppel-like factor KLF7 gene was studied as a candidate for genetic markers of growth traits. We investigated the growth traits at different ages of 1002 Chinese cattles belonging to four breeds and applied artificially created restriction site (ACRS)-PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing methods to reveal three SNPs: NC_007300:g.41401C>T (p.F54F), 42025T>C and 42075A>G. The statistical results indicated there was a strong linkage not only between C41401T and T42025C in Jiaxian, but also between T42025C and A42075G in Qinchuan, Nanyang and Chinese Holstein respectively (r2 > 0.33). Significant statistical differences in genotypic frequencies at the three loci displayed that the polymorphisms were remarkably correlated with cattle breeds by χ2 test (P < 0.001). In addition, the cattle with genotype T2T2, C2C2 (T42025C), A3A3 (A42075G), haplotype C1C1C2C2A3A3 and C1T1T2C2A3G3 showed better growth traits (P < 0.01). The biochemical and physiological functions, together with the results obtained in our investigation, suggest that the KLF7 gene might play important roles affecting growth traits in cattle.