Variation in the ovine WFIKKN2 gene

• This is the first study to report sequence variation in ovine WFIKKN2.
• We identify five and two variants in intron 1 and the 3' UTR of WFIKKN2 respectively.
• We detect a total of thirteen SNPs in both regions.
• The distribution of individual variants seems to be related to generalised production traits in some breeds.

WFIKKN2 may play a role in the regulation of muscle growth and development through its interaction with growth and differentiation factor 8 (GDF8) and growth and differentiation factor 11 (GDF11), but to date research into the function of the protein has been focused on mice, even though the WFIKKN2 gene (WFIKKN2) was first identified in humans in 2001.In this study two regions (intron 1 and the 3′ UTR) of ovine WFIKKN2 were investigated, using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Single Stranded Conformational Polymorphism (PCR-SSCP). Two different PCR-SSCP patterns, representing two unique DNA sequences (designated a and b) were detected in a 399-bp amplicon derived from the 3′ UTR, with sequence analysis revealing one single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). In a 421-bp amplicon from intron 1, five different PCR-SSCP patterns (designated A–E) were observed and twelve SNPs were detected. Either one or two different sequences were detected in individual sheep and all the sequences identified shared homology with the WFIKKN2 sequences from cattle and other animal species, suggesting that these sequences represent variants of the ovine WFIKKN2 gene. In intron 1 of 487 sheep from eight breeds, variants B and C were the most common, followed by A, D and E. These results indicate that ovine WFIKKN2 is polymorphic and suggest that further analysis is required to see if variation in the gene is associated with variation in growth and muscle traits in sheep.