VLDLR gene polymorphism associated with abdominal fat in Gaoyou domestic duck breed

VLDLR gene was chosen as a candidate gene infl uencing abdominal fat trait and body weight due to previous studies in human and mouse. Herein, the objectives of this study were to identify genetic polymorphisms of duck VLDLR gene, and to analyze association between combined haplotypes and abdominal fat trait in Gaoyou domestic duck. A total of 207 individuals, including the elite reservation farm Gaoyou duck (FG, n = 50), the newly formed Gaoyou duck (NG, n = 54), the reserve area Gaoyou duck (AG, n = 50), and Hybrid duck (HY, n = 53) were used for study. In this paper, one genomic fragment was sequenced in all ducks encompassing a region from exon 14 to exon 16. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and three insertions/deletions (indels) were identifi ed. Based on the above eight SNPs, 11 haplotypes were identifi ed. Th e H1 was the most common haplotype in AG, FG, and HY populations, which occurred at a frequency of more than 41%. Statistical analysis indicated that four combined haplotypes were associated with body weight at 10 weeks (BW10) (P < 0.05) and abdominal fat percentage (AFP) (P < 0.01) in Gaoyou FG and AG joint population. Th is result suggested that the VLDLR gene could be a potential gene infl uencing abdominal fat trait and body weight and may be used in marker-assisted selection (MAS).