SINE Insertion May Act as a Repressor to Affect the Expression of Pig and Growth Traits.

Retrotransposon is an important component of the mammalian genome. Previous studies have shown that the expression of protein-coding genes was affected by the insertion of retrotransposon into the proximal genes, and the phenotype variations would be related to the retrotransposon insertion polymorphisms (RIPs). In this study, leptin (LEP), leptin receptor (LEPR), and leptin receptor overlapping transcript (LEPROT), which play important roles in the regulation of fat synthesis and body weight, were screened to search for the RIPs and their effect on phenotype and gene expression, as well as to further study the function of the insertion.