Association of HSF1 gene copy number variation with growth traits in the Ashidan yak

Abstract

Copy Number Variation (CNV) is the major manner for the variation of genome structure, which is associated with numerous important traits. The heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) gene is a stress response transcriptional regulator. It participates in the heat shock response, simultaneously participated in the development of tissue. The objective of this research was to explore the influence of CNV of the HSF1 gene on the growth traits of the Ashidan yak. In this study, the growth traits (withers height, body weight, chest girth, and body length) of 274 Ashidan yaks were divided into four stages (6, 12, 18, and 30 months old). Moreover, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was exploited for determining the HSF1 gene relative expression level, and SPSS software was utilized for the statistical analysis. The outcomes indicated that HSF1-CNV was significantly associated with body length (p < 0.05) and was extremely significant associated with withers height (p < 0.01) of 18-month-old Ashidan yaks. Besides, the HSF1 relative expression in heart and muscle was higher than that existed in other tissues (p < 0.01). The outcomes suggested that the CNV of HSF1 gene would affect the growth and development of the Ashidan yak, which is conducive to the early breeding of yak.

Keywords: Ashidan yak; Copy number variation (CNV); Growth traits; HSF1 gene.