Investigation for causative polymorphisms in genes associated with sexual precocity in Nellore heifers

• Grant number: 13/08011-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: February 01, 2015
• End date: January 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Genetics and Improvement of Domestic Animals
• Principal Investigator: Henrique Nunes de Oliveira
• Grantee: Henrique Nunes de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Fabio Ricardo Pablos de Souza ; Humberto Tonhati ; Lucia Galvão de Albuquerque

Abstract

The probability of pregnancy is a trait of high economic value to Nellore heifers. The variability among them is not always detected because most breeders do not expose the heifers in a young age also because this trait presents a binomial distribution (pregnancy or no pregnancy), which can difficult the analysis. The maturation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis on early pregnancy is probably associated with primary endocrine factor necessary for the onset of puberty in heifers. Therefore, the maturation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is responsible for the onset of puberty and consequently maintenance of pregnancy by hormones and factors responsible for maternal recognition of pregnancy in early pubertal heifers. The influence of the adipose tissue on early pregnancy is possibly related to its endocrine function that is responsible for releasing hormones precursors of sex hormones, which act directly in the sexual precocity. In previous genomic studies, significant effects of haplotypes formed by SNPs located in genes related to lipid metabolism as candidates for sexual precocity were detected. This work aims to detect causal polymorphisms in the FABP4, PPP3CA, XKR4, PAPPA-A, PAPPA-A2, MBL-1, ESRRG, IGF-1, LEP and DGAT-1 genes and, therefore, assist in the breeding selection with the help of molecular tools. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BARBERO, M. M. D.; SANTOS, D. J. A.; TAKADA, L.; DE CAMARGO, G. M. F.; FREITAS, A. C.; DIAZ, I. S. D. P.; DE SOUZA, F. R. P.; TONHATI, H.; ALBUQUERQUE, L. G.; OLIVEIRA, H. N.. Prospecting polymorphisms in the PPP3CA and FABP4 genes and their association with early pregnancy probability in Nellore heifers. LIVESTOCK SCIENCE, v. 203, p. 76-81, SEP 2017. (09/16118-5, 13/08011-1)