This article is part of the supplement: Second International Symposium on Candidate Genes for Animal Health. 16-18 August 2002, Montpelier - France
Research
Characterization of the porcine CDKN3 gene as a potential candidate for congenital splay leg in piglets
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* Corresponding author: Steffen Maak maak@landw.uni-halle.de
1 Institute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry with Veterinary Clinic, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Adam-Kuckhoff-Str. 35, 06108 Halle, Germany
2 Institute of Zoology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Domplatz 4, 06108 Halle, Germany
Genetics Selection Evolution 2003, 35(Suppl 1):S157-S165 doi:10.1186/1297-9686-35-S1-S157
Published: 15 June 2003Abstract
Congenital splay leg is a hereditary disease observed in newborn piglets. The etiology and pathogenetic mechanism of the disorder are still unknown. The gene for cyclin-dependent protein kinase inhibitor 3 (CDKN3) was identified as a potential candidate gene in a differential display experiment. We analyzed the gene on sequence variations and compared its expression in M. biceps femoris between healthy and affected piglets. Comparative sequencing of the coding region of three healthy and four splay leg piglets revealed twelve single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) resulting in six amino acid exchanges in the deduced sequences. However, all polymorphisms were observed in healthy as well as in splay leg piglets thus excluding structural differences of the gene as a cause of the disease. Besides full length transcripts, we found a variety of aberrantly transcribed cDNA in clones derived from M. biceps femoris of healthy as well as of splay leg piglets. All alternative transcripts coexist with normal cDNA. Expression analysis revealed a trend towards higher values in M. biceps femoris of splay leg piglets supporting the results obtained from a differential display.