Improving feed efficiency would increase profitability for producers. The objective of this study was to detect the expression levels of ME1 and CA1 and the polymorphisms of ME1 and CA1 associated with the feed conversion ratio (FCR) and residual feed intake (RFI) of Hu sheep by using qRT-PCR, pooled DNA sequencing and KASPar assay. The qRT-PCR results indicated that the expression levels of ME1 and CA1 were significantly higher in the liver tissues of low-RFI sheep than in those of the high-RFI sheep (p <.01). Association analysis demonstrated that the polymorphism ME1 g.453 C > T was significantly associated with FCR and RFI (p <.05). The polymorphism CA1 g.199 C > T had a significantly associated with FCR (p <.05) and no association with RFI (p >.05). Significant differences were observed between the combined genotypes and FCR and RFI at different measurement periods (p <.05). Thus, we propose the use of these two polymorphisms as new candidate molecular markers for improving feed efficiency in sheep populations.

中文翻译：

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绵羊ME1和CA1基因多态性及其与胡羊饲料效率的关系

提高饲料效率将增加生产者的盈利能力。本研究的目的是检测的表达水平ME1和CA1和的多态性ME1和CA1与通过使用qRT-PCR湖羊的饲料转化率（FCR）和残余饲料摄取量（RFI）相关联的，汇集DNA测序和 KASPar 测定。qRT-PCR结果表明ME1和CA1在低RFI绵羊肝组织中的表达水平显着高于高RFI绵羊（p  <.01）。关联分析表明，多态性ME1 g.453 C > T 与 FCR 和 RFI 显着相关。p  <.05）。多态性CA1 g.199 C > T 与 FCR 显着相关 ( p  <.05)，与 RFI 无关 ( p  >.05)。在不同测量时期，组合基因型与 FCR 和 RFI 之间观察到显着差异 ( p  <.05)。因此，我们建议使用这两种多态性作为新的候选分子标记来提高绵羊种群的饲料效率。