Molecular cloning and polymorphism of the porcine H2AFZ gene

H2A histone family, member Z (H2A.Z) is required for early mammalian development. In the present study, the 932 bp of full-length cDNA encoding a 128 amino-acid protein and the sequences of intron 2 to 4 of the porcine H2A histone family, member Z (pH2AFZ) gene were obtained. By comparative sequencing of pH2AFZ gene in Large White and Meishan pigs, a 4 bp deletion/insertion in intron 2 was detected and a PCR-Bsu15I-RFLP was established to detect this variation. In DIV (4th Dam line of Chinese lean-type new lines) pigs, the first-parity females with AA genotype had fewer piglets born alive (-2.64 and -1.83 piglets per litter) than those with AB (P < 0.01) and BB (P < 0.05) genotype. The additive allelic and dominance effect were estimated to be 0.92 (P < 0.05) and -0.87 piglets per litter (P < 0.01) for number of piglets born alive, respectively. This result suggests that the pH2AFZ gene might be a good candidate gene of litter-size trait and provides some marker information for marker-assisted selection.