Research On Genetic Variation Of UCP2 And UCP3 In Pigs

Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are mitochondrial membrane transporters, acting as an uncoupler in oxidative phosphorylation. UCPs have a number of proposed roles in the regulation of ATP synthesis and fatty acid metabolism. In this experiment, the porcine uncoupling protein 2(UCP2) and 3 (UCP3) genes were cloned by PCR then sequenced. Two DNA sequences was acquired respectively. We detected the polymorphisms of the two genes by PCR-SSCP, PCR-RFLP and so on ,and then confirmed by DNA sequencing. 13 polymorphisms were discovered in UCP2 gene, including ten SNPs and 3 deletions. 24 polymorphisms were discovered in UCP3 gene, including 20 SNPs and 4 deletions ,in which T1056G was missense mutation and C1453T was silent mutation. We predict the potential protein factor binding sites by transcription factor analysis tool TFSEARCH ver1.3 on line. The result clewed that G-42A in UCP2 and A521G, 16bp deletion at 1830nt, 6bp deletion at 3219nt, C3399A,C3401A in UCP3 may have some effect on the regulation of UCP2 and UCP3 gene transcription and regulation because those mutation cause changes in the numbers and kinds of transcription factor binding to the introns. 7 deleted mutations were covered in linkage genes of UCP2 and UCP3. The genotype compounding of 7 deleted sites had significant effect on performance traits of the pig such as weight There are 16bp deletion at 1830nt, 6bp deletion at 3219nt,C3399A and C3401A four important sites which give rise to changes of transcription factor binding sites. Haplotype analysis of those sites indicates that Haplotype 1 is favorable and transcription factor of those sites may promote growth of pigs. In a word, all those result indicated that UCP2 and UCP3 genes have plenty of polymorphisms in this population and deleted mutations were remarkably associatied with body weight of the pig. This study suggests that these marks can be useful for next research of gene transcription and regulation.