Identification and Characterization of a New Allele for the Beta Subunit of Follicle-Stimulating Hormone in Chinese Pig Breeds

Authors

M. D. Li, University of Tennessee Medical School
G. A. Rohrer, USDA-ARSFollow
T. H. Wise, USDA-ARS
J. J. Ford, USDA-ARS

Date of this Version

2000

Document Type

Article

Citation

Published in Animal Genetics (2000) 31: 28-30.

Abstract

During evaluation of follicle-stimulating hormone- beta (FSHB) expression in anterior pituitary glands by an RNase protection assay (RPA), the expected fragment of 205 nucleotides at positions 759-963 was not detected in one boar that had moderate plasma and pituitary FSH concentrations. After subcloning and sequencing, mRNA from this boar lacked an 11-bp fragment (59-CATTTGGAAAC-39) at nucleotide positions 807-817 of the 39-untranslated region (39-UTR, D allele). Wild-type FSHB (WT allele) was present in pituitary RNA and genomic DNA in both Meishan (MS) and White Composite (WC) pigs; whereas the D allele was present only in MS pigs (P < 0·01; 5/6 MS vs. 0/6 WC). Also, we found the D allele in five other Chinese breeds but absent in ten American Landrace, 11 Yorkshire and 17 Berkshire pigs. Additionally, the D allele had one silent nucleotide change in the coding region plus six, single nucleotide changes in the 39-UTR.