Genetic polymorphisms of the bovine 'Fatty acid binding protein 4' gene are significantly associated with marbling and carcass weight in Hanwoo ('Korean Cattle')

The objective of this study was to investigate an association between polymorphisms in the FABP4 gene and phenotypic variation for marbling and carcass weight (CWT) in a population of Hanwoo steers. We re-sequenced 4.3 kb of the FABP4 gene region in 24 Hanwoo bulls and identified 16 SNPs and 1 microsatellite polymorphism. Of these 16 SNPs, three SNPs [g.2774G>C (intron I), g.3473A>T (intron II) and g.3631G>A (exon III, creating a p.Met >Val amino acid substitution)] were genotyped in 583 steers to assess their association with carcass traits. The g.3473A allele showed a significant increasing effect on CWT (P = 0.01) and the g.3631G allele was associated with higher marbling score (P = 0.006). One haplotype of these three SNPs (CAG) was significantly associated with CWT (P = 0.02) and marbling score (P = 0.05) and could potentially be of value for marker assisted selection in Hanwoo cattle. The CAG haplotype effect for CWT was larger (11.14 ± 5.03 kg) than the largest single locus effect of g.3473A>T (5.01 ± 2.2 kg).