Comparative Study on the Genetic Diversity of GHR Gene in Tibetan Cattle and Holstein Cows

Due to the phenotype-based artificial selection in domestic cattle, the underlying functional genes may be indirectly selected and show decreasing diversity in theory. The growth hormone receptor (GHR) gene has been widely proposed to significantly associate with critical economic traits in cattle. In the present study, we comparatively studied the genetic diversity of GHR in Tibetan cattle (a traditional unselected breed, n = 93) and Chinese Holstein cow (the intensively selected breed, n = 94). The Tibetan yak (n = 38) was also included as an outgroup breed. A total of 21 variants were detected by sequencing 1279 bp genomic fragments encompassing the largest exon 9. Twelve haplotypes (H1∼H12) constructed by 15 coding SNPs were presented as a star-like network profile, in which haplotype H2 was located at the central position and almost occupied by Tibetan yaks. Furthermore, H2 was also identical to the formerly reported sequence specific to African cattle. Only haplotype H5 was simultaneously shared by all three breeds. Tibetan cattle showed higher nucleotide diversity (0.00215 ± 0.00015) and haplotype diversity (0.678 ± 0.026) than Holstein cow. Conclusively, we found Tibetan cattle have retained relatively high genetic variation of GHR. The predominant presence of African cattle specific H2 in the outgroup yak breed would highlight its ancestral relationship, which may be used as one informative molecular marker in the phylogenetic studies.