REVIEW article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Livestock Genomics
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1616533
This article is part of the Research TopicGenomic Insights into Sheep and Goat Breeding Efficiency - Volume IIView all articles
Potential Candidate Genes Influencing Meat Production Phenotypic Traits in Sheep: A Review
Provisionally accepted
Muhammad Zahoor Khan*
Han Ying
Faheem Akhtar
Wenting ChenXiaotong LiuMingyue ZhaoLimeng ShiChangfa Wang*- Liaocheng University, Shangdong, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
This review examines the genetic basis of meat production phenotypic traits in sheep, addressing the challenge of enhancing carcass and meat quality to meet global demand. The article identifies key potential genes associated with vertebral traits, body size, muscle development, and fat deposition across diverse sheep breeds worldwide. Through comprehensive analysis of recent literature (2018-2025), the study synthesizes findings from genome-wide association studies, candidate gene approaches, and transcriptomic analyses. Specific potential genes like VRTN, NR6A1, MSTN, ADIPOQ, LCORL, MEF2B, FASN, FABP4, SCD, DGAT1, BMP and HOX family genes demonstrate significant associations with economically valuable traits. The potential genes influencing meat production phenotypic traits (intramuscular fat contents, growth, vertebral traits and body size traits) have been highlighted in this review. This comprehensive genetic marker catalog serves as a critical resource repository for implementing marker-assisted selection programs, providing breeders and researchers with validated genetic targets to accelerate breeding efficiency and enhance meat production in sheep worldwide.
Keywords: Meat production, Carcass weight, vertebral traits, small ruminants, Genetic Markers
Received: 23 Apr 2025; Accepted: 02 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Khan, Ying, Akhtar, Chen, Liu, Zhao, Shi and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Muhammad Zahoor Khan, Liaocheng University, Shangdong, China
Changfa Wang, Liaocheng University, Shangdong, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.