Genetic variants in the TORC2 gene promoter and their association with body measurement and carcass quality traits in Qinchuan cattle

The TORC2 gene is responsible for nutrient metabolism, gluconeogenesis, myogenesis and adipogenesis through the PI3K-Akt, AMPK, glucagon and insulin resistance signaling pathways. Sequencing of PCR amplicons explored three novel SNPs at loci g.16534694G>A, g.16535011C>T, and g.16535044A>T in the promoter region of the TORC2 gene in the Qinchuan breed of cattle. Allelic and genotypic frequencies of these SNPs deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) (P < 0.05). SNP1 genotype GG, SNP2 genotype CT and SNP3 genotype AT showed significantly (P <0.05) larger body measurement and improved carcass quality traits. Haplotype H1 (GCA) showed significantly (p<0.01) higher transcriptional activity (51.44%) followed by H4 (ATT) (34.13%) in bovine preadipocytes. The diplotypes HI-H3 (GG-CC-AT), H1-H2 (GG-CT-AT) and H3-H4 (GA-CT-TT) showed significant (P<0.01) associations with body measurement and improved carcass quality traits. Analysis of the relative mRNA expression level of the TORC2 gene in different tissues within two different age groups revealed a significant increase (P<0.01) in liver, small intestine, muscle and fat tissues with growth from calf stage to adult stage. We can conclude that variants mapped within TORC2 can be used in marker-assisted selection for carcass quality and body measurement traits in breed improvement programs of Qinchuan cattle.