Objective   Fatty acid binding protein 3 (FABP3) is involved in the uptake and utilization of long-chain fatty acids and plays an important role in fat deposition. To investigate the gene polymorphism and expression differences of FABP3 gene between Tibetan and York pigs could help improve the quality of Tibetan pigs for the genetic level.

  Methods  In this study, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 5' flanking region and CDS region of FABP3 in randomly selected 180-d-old Tibetan and Yorkshire pigs were tested. Expressions of FABP3 in the liver, longest dorsal muscle, and dorsal fat were detected using real-time fluorescence.

  Results   Two SNPs, T-114C and C-635A, were found in FABP3 with significantly differentiated genotype frequencies between the two species of pigs (P＜0.01). Upon transcription factor prediction, these 2 SNPs loci were found to be associated with preadipocyte renewal, differentiation, and fat deposition, and it was hypothesized that they were important functional loci involved in the regulation of FABP3 gene expression. The expressions of FABP3 in the liver and longest dorsal muscle of Tibetan pigs were extremely significantly higher than those of Yorkshire pigs (P＜0.01), and that in the dorsal fat significantly higher than that of Yorkshire pigs (P＜0.05).

  Conclusion  FABP3 might be closely related to the regulation of fat metabolism and deposition of Tibetan pigs which differs from Yorkshire variety.