Relationships Between Expressions and Variants of the Myosin−Binding Protein C1 Gene and Fatty Acid Composition in Longissimus Thoracis Muscle of Grazing Sonid Sheep

This study focused on the associations between the expression levels and variants of the myosin−binding protein C1 ( MYBPC1 ) gene and fatty acid composition of the longissimus thoracis in grazing Sonid sheep. Fifteen novel polymorphisms were identified in the Sonid sheep breed by direct sequencing and then were genotyped in 286 castrated ram lambs using iPLEX MassARRAY. The association study showed that the g.170969609A>G, g.170969730C>T of linkage disequilibrium−1, the g.171019445C>G, g.171047427G>A, c.3282G>A (1094E), and c.3660C>T (1220S) of linkage disequilibrium−3 of MYBPC1 have significant effects on the compositions of certain long‐chain FAs, including long‐chain saturated fatty acid, C17:1, n6−polyunsaturated fatty acid, C18:1n9c, and C18:2n6c. In addition, the correlation analysis results showed that the high expression levels of MYBPC1 were positively correlated with certain saturated fatty acids and negatively correlated with certain unsaturated fatty acids. Thus, the correlation results and associated mutations were expected to be genetic selection markers for the fatty acid compositions and meat quality in Sonid sheep.