Association study of the single nucleotide polymorphisms in adiponectin-associated genes with type 2 diabetes in Han Chinese

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms （SNPs） of ADIPOQ, ADIPOR1, and ADIPOR2 have been associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus （T2DM）, but there are many conflicting results especially in Chinese populations. To investigate the contribution of the adiponectin genes and their receptors to T2DM, a case-control study was performed and 11 SNPs ofADIPOQ, ADIPOR1, and ADIPOR2 were genotyped in 985 T2DM and 1,050 control subjects, rs 16861194 （-11426 A〉G） in the putative promoter of ADIPOQ was associated with T2DM （P = 0.007; OR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.08-1.55）. None of the other 10 SNPs were associated with T2DM in this study, although rs2241766 and rs1501299 were reported to be associated with T2DM in previous Chinese studies. There was also no significant difference found from the ADIPOQ haplotype analysis, which contains rs 16861194. In addition, we also assessed potential gene-gene interactions in three genes and no interactions were found. In conclusion, our results supported the ADIPOQ gene as a possible risk factor for type 2 diabetes in Han Chinese population.     

Identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the bovine CCL2, IL8, CCR2 and IL8RA genes and their association with health and production in Canadian Holsteins

The aim of this study was to identify the presence of SNPs in the chemokine genes CCL2 and IL8 and the chemokine receptor genes IL8RA and CCR2, and assess their potential contribution to variation in estimated breeding values (EBVs) for somatic cell score (SCS) and four other traits in Canadian Holstein bulls. Pools of DNA for bulls with high (H) and low (L) EBVs for SCS were used for identification of 11 SNPs. Two unreported SNPs were found in the CCL2 gene and one SNP was found in the CCR2 gene. Previously reported SNPs (three in the IL8 gene and five in the IL8RA chemokine receptor) were also identified. Two SNPs in CCL2, three in IL8, one in IL8RA and one in CCR2 were genotyped in Canadian Holstein bulls (n = 338) using tetra primer ARMS-PCR. We investigated associations of these seven polymorphisms with three production traits (milk yield, fat yield and protein yield) and one conformation trait related to mastitis (udder depth). The allele substitution effect for the CCL2 rs41255713:T>C SNP was significant at an experimental-wise level for milk yield (247.5 +/- 79.9 kg) and protein yield (7.4 +/- 2.3 kg) EBVs (P T SNP on SCS was significant at the comparison-wise level (-0.04 +/- 0.02, P = 0.05), which might indicate a possible association in support of other published studies. Lastly, we assigned CCR2 to BTA22q24, where a previously QTL for SCS was identified.     

Identification of splice variants,expression analysis and single nucleotide polymorphisms of the PRMT2 gene in dairy cattle

Protein arginine N-methyltransferase 2 (PRMT2), also named HRMT1L1, belongs to the Bovine Protein arginine N-methyltransferase (PRMT) genes which are involved in the immune response. To explore the variability of the PRMT2 gene and resistance to mastitis in cows, splice variant (SV), and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in this study. A SV (PRMT2-SV) lacking exon 7 (98-bp) of the PRMT2 gene was found in healthy and mastitis-infected mammary gland tissues. Two of four SNPs were significantly associated with bovine milk yield and protein content. Further, we estimated the relative expression of PRMT2-SV in the mammary gland tissue of dairy cattle by using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The result showed that expression of the PRMT2-SV mRNA was significantly upregulated 4.02-fold (p < 0.05) in infected mammary tissues (n = 5) compared to healthy tissues (n = 5). Our findings reveal that PRMT2-SV may play an important role in mastitis resistance in dairy cattle. The SNPs may be used as a possible candidate SNPs for marker-assisted selection and management in Chinese Holstein cattle.