Abstract
Leptin is mainly secreted by white adipose tissue in animals. Leptin acts by stimulating or inhibiting the release of a neurotransmitter, which eventually results in a decrease in food/feed intake and an increase in energy expenditure. In this investigation, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coupled with single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis was used to reveal nucleotide sequence variations in bovine leptin gene (LEP) in 338 cattle of a variety of breeds farmed in New Zealand (NZ) and Nigeria. These included NZ Hereford, Angus, Shorthorn, and crossbred Holstein-Friesian Jersey cattle and the Nigerian Sokoto Gudali, Red Bororo, White Fulani, and crossbred Holstein-Friesian White Fulani cattle. Sequence analysis of three regions of bovine LEP that encompassed selected coding and non-coding regions, revealed a total of 12 nucleotide sequence variations (six in exons and six in introns). Of these, three are reported here for the first time, whereas nine have been previously described. Some of the variations identified were common in both the NZ and Nigerian cattle breeds, while others were peculiar to particular breeds from a specific region. The sharing of common variants across different breeds irrespective of geography may indicate an evolutionary relationship, just as the differences within a breed might be attributable to either selective pressure for specific traits or random genetic drift. The detection of both new and previously documented variations in bovine LEP suggests that the gene is highly variable.
Highlights
One of the most important factors affecting animal productivity is feed intake
Of the four variants identified for amplicon I, the New Zealand (NZ) HF × J crossbred cattle had three variants (A1, B1, and C1), and the Nigerian Red Bororo and crossbred HF × WF cattle had three variants each (A1, B1 and D1), while two variants (A1 and B1) were observed in the NZ Hereford, Angus, Shorthorn, Nigerian Sokoto Gudali, and White Fulani cattle
A total of 12 nucleotide variations were identified across the three regions examined
Summary
One of the most important factors affecting animal productivity is feed intake. Poor feed intake or inadequate nutrition can affect body weight, growth, reproduction, and milk production, and it can decrease immunity. A desire to increase animal productivity may require the adoption of measures aimed at increasing or maximizing feed intake. Leptin is a product of the gene that is called LEP but was previously known as OB, OBS, and LEPD. Bovine LEP has been mapped to chromosome 4 (Pomp et al, 1997), and it consists of three exons separated by two introns. Exon 1 and part of exon 2 (four nucleotides) are not translated, and only the remaining part of exons 2 and 3 are translated into the functional 16 kDa leptin protein of 146 amino acids in length
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