Investigation of polymorphisms in myostatin (MSTN) gene in Japanese quails

Myostatin functions as a negative regulator of muscle development and plays a critical role in controlling muscle growth and determining meat quality traits. Notably, the presence of mutated alleles or an inactive MSTN gene is strongly associated with increased growth rates and superior carcass characteristics. In this study, differences in live weight were observed among three distinct Japanese quail lines raised at the Yamtar Japanese Quail Production Farm located in Karaman, Türkiye. To evaluate the weight differences among the groups, a One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed. The analysis revealed statistically significant differences between the groups (p < 0.05). It was hypothesized that these differences might be related to potential polymorphisms occurring in the Myostatin gene, and the study aimed to compare MSTN variations among the three lines with different selection backgrounds. For this purpose, pectoral muscle samples were collected from a total of 72 Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) selected from the three groups. RNA isolation was performed from the muscle tissues, and cDNA synthesis was carried out from the isolated RNA. The cDNA samples of each line were combined into pools by grouping them in sets of three, resulting in a total of 24 pooled samples. A 1932 bp region spanning the exon sites was amplified using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) with forward and reverse primers. DNA sequencing of the 24 pooled groups was performed using the Sanger method. As a result of the analysis, a total of 20 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified: 7 in exon 2, 6 in exon 3, and 7 in the 3′ UTR region of the gene. The Tukey HSD post-hoc comparison further indicated that Group C (Yamtar 2) showed a significant increase compared to Group A (Parent line) (p < 0.05). The findings of this study suggest that the identified SNPs may play a role in the significant differences observed among the groups. The data obtained are considered to contribute to future selection studies aimed at increasing body weight in Japanese quail. Keywords: Japanese quail, Miyostatin (MSTN), Polymorphism, Selection, Live body weight