Abstract
The key element of the system regulating food intake has proven to be the Leptin. It act as hunger centre in the hypothalamus and affects the regulation of appetite. It has also been shown that Leptin gene influence milk performance in sheep, cattle and reproduction performance in beef cattle. Genetic characterization to assess the existing biodiversity and differences among the important livestock breeds is an essential pre-requisite to facilitate the conservation program in an effective and meaningful way. This paper sought to study the diversity analysis of Leptin gene in some ruminant and non-ruminant animal species. A total of twenty three (23) Leptin gene sequences belonging to eight (8) species: Cattle (3), Sheep (3), Goat (3), Swine (3), Horse (2), Camel (3), Mouse (3) and Rabbit (3) were retrieved from Genbank (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Sequences alignment, translation and comparison were done using ClustalW of the MEGA 6.0. The minimum distance matrix (Dxy) value (0.02) was observed between the sequence of cattle and goat while the maximum Dxy value (2.72) was seen between cattle and sheep in ruminant species. In non-ruminant species the highest Dxy value (17.61) was seen between rabbit and camel while the minimum Dxy value (0.18) was observed between mouse and camel respectively. The smaller the distance matrix value, the closer the sequence of the species and the lesser the genetic distance among or between species whereas the larger the Dxy value, the higher the genetic distance among and between species investigated. This finding could provide basis for selection when considering evolution and differentiation among species.
Highlights
Leptin is a 16-kDa protein hormone belonging to the class-1 helical cytokine family of proteins (Trombley et al, 2012)
The Leptin could act as marker for animal growth, feed conversion efficiency and health and the present study sought to explain a form of diversity study analysis of Leptin gene in-silico in some selected ruminant and nonruminant animal species
Cattle and goats Leptin sequences clustered closely than those of sheep. While of those of non-ruminant, Leptin sequences of horse and rabbit clustered closely followed by those of swine and mouse respectively and this could be explained due to species specific residues and such patterns of the sequences may be explained by gene conversion and balancing selection
Summary
Leptin is a 16-kDa protein hormone belonging to the class-1 helical cytokine family of proteins (Trombley et al, 2012). Leptin was first discovered in the mouse Mus musculus and has a central role in the regulation of appetite, energy metabolism, body composition, immune functions and reproduction in mammals (Trombley et al, 2012). Leptin acts as an anorexigenic signal through a negative feedback loop to the appetite centre in the hypothalamus causing long term and short-term effects on feed uptake and energy homeostasis (Trombley et al, 2012). In mammals the Leptin is considered as a hormone that regulates the body weight by maintaining the balance between food intake and energy expenditure through signalling to the brain and brings the changes in stored energy level (Friedman et al, 1998). Leptin plays a major role in control of body growth, adaptability, immune function, angiogenesis, renal function, haematopoiesis, reproduction, and acts as an endocrine signal in brain and different peripheral tissues in which Leptin receptors are expressed in fatal tissue, mammary gland, rumen, abomasum, duodenum and pituitary gland. The Leptin could act as marker for animal growth, feed conversion efficiency and health and the present study sought to explain a form of diversity study analysis of Leptin gene in-silico in some selected ruminant and nonruminant animal species
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