Detection of 15-bp Indel of HIAT1 Gene and Its Association with Morphometric Traits in Different Goat Populations of Bangladesh

Abstract

Morphometrics are vital quantitative features for production performance and can affect body size. Hippocampus abundant transcript 1 (HIAT1) gene belongs to the major facilitator superfamily that has specific association with growth related traits in mammals including goat. This study was conducted to investigate possible association between 15-bp insertion/deletion (indel) polymorphism of HIAT1 gene and morphometric traits in different goat populations of Bangladesh. A total of 288 blood samples were collected from Black Bengal goat (BBG), Jamunapari (JP) and Black Bengal cross (BBC) populations. One pair of primer was used to amplify HIAT1 gene fragment that harboured 15-bp indel polymorphism. PCR amplification detected insertion (II), deletion (DD) and heterozygous (ID) genotypes. The II, ID, and DD genotype frequencies were 0.16, 0.44, and 0.40 respectively in BBG populations where the corresponding genotype frequencies were 0.00, 0.47, and 0.53 in JP and 0.11, 0.40, and 0.49 in BBC goat populations. Overall, both the DD and ID genotypes were predominant than II individuals in the studied goat populations. The studied morphometric traits differed significantly among the three goat populations (P<0.01). However, rump width (P<0.001) and rump length (P<0.01) were significantly associated with 15-bp indel genotypes in BBG population and wither height and rump height were significantly (P<0.01) associated in BBC. In conclusion, this study revealed the existence of 15-bp indel polymorphism in the studied goat populations and its influence on some morphometric traits was found.