NUDT6, the FGF-2's antisense gene, showed associations with fat deposition related traits in pigs.

The nudix (nucleoside diphosphate linked moiety X)-type motif 6 (Nudt6) belongs to the cytosolic Nudix hydrolase family genes, and it has been identified as a fibroblast growth factor 2 (Fgf-2)'s anti-sense gene in humans and rats, and can regulate Fgf-2 stability by its 3' un-translated region (UTR) of mRNA. Here we cloned two completed mRNA of porcine NUDT6 variant transcripts and then analyzed the overlapping relationships of 3'UTR ends between NUDT6 and FGF-2 genes. The expression patterns of NUDT6 were detected in heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, muscle and fat tissues, suggesting a widespread mRNA expression of this gene in pigs. The real-time PCR results revealed the reverse expression patterns of NUDT6 and FGF-2 in Tongcheng and Yorkshire pig's tissues including heart, live, spleen, lung, kidney and fat tissues. A C/T single nucleotide polymorphism in NUDT6 was genotyped in two experimental populations, and the association analyses revealed that it was significantly associated with intramuscular fat percentage (P < 0.01) and intramuscular lipid (P < 0.05) in experiment population 1, and it was significantly associated with percentage of leaf and caul fat (P < 0.05), percentage of leaf fat (P < 0.05), proportion of lean and bone of the ham (P < 0.05) in experimental population 2. The findings from this study could offer new evidences that NUDT6 maybe a candidate gene for fat deposition in pigs.