Variation in the Lipin 1 Gene Is Associated with Birth Weight and Selected Carcass Traits in New Zealand Romney Sheep.

Lipin 1 plays an important role in lipid metabolism. In this study; we searched for variation in the ovine lipin 1 gene (LPIN1) in three gene regions (a 5' non-coding region; a region containing an alternatively spliced exon in intron 4; and a region containing coding exon 6) using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis. The greatest amount of alleles was found in coding exon 6; with five sequences being detected. The effect of variation in this exon was investigated in 242 New Zealand Romney lambs derived from 12 sire-lines. The presence of variant E3 was associated with a decrease in birth weight (p = 0.005) and the proportion of leg yield (p = 0.045), but with an increase in hot carcass weight (p = 0.032) and the proportion of loin yield (p = 0.014). The presence of variant B3 was associated with an increased pre-weaning growth rate (p = 0.041), whereas the presence of variant C3 was associated with an increase in shoulder yield (p < 0.001). These results suggest that ovine LPIN1 variation may have value as a genetic marker for improving meat production and carcass traits.