The Search for Novel SNP Markers located in ACE Gene and the Investigation of Their Genetic Diversities in Middle School Athletes

Due to recent advances in genetics and molecular biology, research is actively being conducted to discover genetic markers that significantly affect athletic performance in sports. Therefore, in this study, we conducted a series of studies to explore the possibility that genetic markers located in the ACE gene could be used as the useful tool(s) to predict the athletic performance of Korean middle school athletes. A total of 147 unrelated middle-school athletes were participated in this study, and they divided into power/sprint(n = 57), endurance(n = 33) and mixed groups(n = 57), respectively. Also, genotyping of 67 kinds of genetic markers located in the ACE gene was performed under automated analysis equipment using an Axiom KBAbetaA.na36.r1.a1 chip. As a result of this study, among a total of 67 kinds of genetic markers, 39 kinds of genetic markers were confirmed to be SNP markers in our study group, and as a result of genetic epidemiology study, a total of three kinds of SNP markers(rs86607151, rs37183300 and rs4968776 polymorphisms) showed a significant association with the subjects' sports performance( p < .05), and one kind of SNP marker(rs4459610 polymorphism) showed a marginal association. Therefore, it is expected that interesting results can be derived if these are utilized in genetic epidemiology studies to predict athletic performance in a wider variety of sports events in the near future or to identify genetic causes of individual differences that appear due to the performance of various exercise programs.