NCAPG is differentially expressed during longissimus muscle development and is associated with growth traits in Chinese Qinchuan beef cattle

Based on RNA-seq analysis, we recently found that the bovine NCAPG (non-SMC condensin I complex, subunit G) gene is differentially expressed during development of the longissimus muscle. In the present study, we validated this result and, using quantitative real-time PCR analysis, identified two adjacent genes, LCORL and DCAF16, that are more abundant in fetal muscle tissue; further analysis of tissue-specific expression patterns indicated high abundance of NCAPG in muscle. Since no polymorphisms were detected in a previous study of Qinchuan cattle, we extended our investigation to examine the occurrence of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the NCAPG gene. Three SNPs, i.e., one located in the intron region (g47747: T > G), a synonymous mutation (g52535: A > G) and a missense mutation (g53208: T > G) that leads to a change in the amino acid of interest (pIle442Met), were detected in a population of Qinchuan beef cattle (n = 300). Association analysis showed that these SNPs were significantly associated with the growth traits of Qinchuan beef cattle. Our results indicate that the bovine NCAPG gene may be involved in the development of the longissimus muscle. These polymorphisms in the NCAPG gene may be useful for marker-assisted selection of optimal body size in Qinchuan beef cattle.