With the inexorable rise of global temperature, heat stress deserves more and more attention in livestock agriculture. Previous studies have shown that the mechanistic target of rapamycin (MTOR) (NC_037343.1:c.2062G>C) gene contributes to the repair of DNA damage repair and is associated with the adaptation of camels in dry and hot environments. However, it is unknown whether this mutation is related to the heat tolerance of Chinese cattle. In this study, PCR and sequencing were used to type the mutation locus in 1030 individuals of 37 cattle breeds. The analysis results showed that the frequency of G allele of the locus gradually diminished from the northern group to the southern group of native Chinese cattle, whereas the frequency of the C allele showed an opposite pattern, displaying a significant geographical difference across native Chinese cattle breeds. Additionally, an analysis of the locus in Chinese indigenous cattle revealed that this SNP was significantly associated with mean annual temperature (T), relative humidity (RH) and temperature humidity index (THI) (p < 0.01), suggesting that cattle with C allele was distributed in regions with higher T, RH and THI. In conclusion, this study proved that the mutation of MTOR gene in Chinese cattle could be associated with the heat tolerance.
Keywords: Chinese cattle; MTOR gene; association; heat tolerance; variation.