Characterization of growth hormone gene (GH) in three Egyptian goat breeds

Abstract

Goat productivity improvement in developing countries is essential since this animal provides an important source of milk, meat, wool, and skin. One gene with important physiological functions in animals is growth hormone (GH). This study was undertaken to characterize and investigate polymorphic sites in the GH gene in Egyptian goat breeds. Additionally, the effects of the detected mutations on the GH protein's structure and function were predicted using different bioinformatics tools. To achieve these goals, the complete GH gene (promoter, UTR, exons, and introns) was sequenced from 15 blood samples collected from three Egyptian goat breeds (Zaraibi, Barki, and Baladi). The sequencing resulted in a 2500 bp fragment (KU935713, KU976149, KX032517). A protein sequence of 217 amino acids was predicted to include six main domains. Comparisons of the GH sequences in different individuals revealed 15 SNPs distributed over the three breeds. Six SNPs were novel and three were non-synonymous. Using a combination of prediction tools, the nsSNPs were predicted to have damaging effects on the 3D structure of GH. The results of this work can be used in future studies to associate the SNPs discovered in the GH gene with economically important traits in goat, and thus can be used as markers to improve Egyptian goat breeds.