Variation in the Lipin 1 Gene Is Associated with Birth Weight and Selected Carcass Traits in New Zealand Romney Sheep

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Lipin 1 plays an important role in lipid metabolism. It not only acts as a phosphatidate phosphatase and directly participates in the synthesis of glycerol and osteolipid, but also acts as a transcriptional co-activator to indirectly regulate the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism. In livestock species, variation in the lipin 1 gene (LPIN1) has been reported in pigs, chickens, and dairy cows, but has not been investigated in sheep, and little is known about whether it might affect production traits in this globally important meat-producing species. In this study, we used polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analyses to search for variation in ovine LPIN1, and its effects on production and carcass traits were investigated in New Zealand Romney sheep. The results suggest that ovine LPIN1 is variable and it may have value as a genetic marker for improving meat production and carcass traits. ABSTRACT: Lipin 1 plays an important role in lipid metabolism. In this study; we searched for variation in the ovine lipin 1 gene (LPIN1) in three gene regions (a 5′ non-coding region; a region containing an alternatively spliced exon in intron 4; and a region containing coding exon 6) using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis. The greatest amount of alleles was found in coding exon 6; with five sequences being detected. The effect of variation in this exon was investigated in 242 New Zealand Romney lambs derived from 12 sire-lines. The presence of variant E(3) was associated with a decrease in birth weight (p = 0.005) and the proportion of leg yield (p = 0.045), but with an increase in hot carcass weight (p = 0.032) and the proportion of loin yield (p = 0.014). The presence of variant B(3) was associated with an increased pre-weaning growth rate (p = 0.041), whereas the presence of variant C(3) was associated with an increase in shoulder yield (p < 0.001). These results suggest that ovine LPIN1 variation may have value as a genetic marker for improving meat production and carcass traits.