Study on the Copy Number Variations of the CHKB, KLF6, GPC1 and CHRM3

Associating copy number variations (CNVs) with growth and gene expression are a powerful approach for identifying genomic characteristics that contribute to phenotypic and genotypic variation. A previous study using next-generation sequencing illustrated that the choline kinase beta (CHKB), Krüpple-like factor 6 (KLF6), glypican 1(GPC1) and cholinergic receptor muscarinic 3 (CHRM3)genes resides within copy number variable regions (CNVRs) of yak populations that overlap with quantitative trait loci of meat quality and growth. These results confirmed the significant function of KLF6, CHKB, GPC1, and CHRM3 CNVRs in determining the mRNA expression levels of this gene in Bos grunniens skeletal muscles, and the expression of these genes affects quantitative growth traits in yak populations through the negative relationship between DNA copy numbers and gene expression. This work provides the first observation of the biological role of KLF6, CHKB, GPC1, and CHRM3 CNVs in Chinese Datong yak breeds and might therefore provide a novel opportunity to utilize data on CNVs in designing molecular markers for the selection of animal breeding programs.