Abstract
Marker assisted selection (MAS) is a potential tool to genetically enhance the traits of economic importance in livestock production. One of the gateways to MAS is the identification of SNPs for the desired genes. The aim of the present study was to detect SNPs in myostatin (MSTN) gene which has a negative role in growth and skeletal muscle development. Therefore, polymorphisms of the exon no 1, 2 and 3 of MSTN gene were studied in Thalli (n=10) and Pak-karakul (n=10) sheep breeds. The genomic DNA was isolated and amplified by using PCR. The amplicons were purified and sequenced. After PCR all samples were sent to Singapore for 1st base laboratory for further purification and sequencing. Sequencing analysis was done using Codon Code Aligner and MEGA 6 software’s. Mutations were observed at only exon no 1 in 50% (5/10) Thalli sheep (heterozygous G>T =3/5, synonymous =2/5) and 20% (2/10) Pak-karakul sheep (only synonymous T mutations) at 3995bp. The two alleles (A and B) were found having all the three combinations of genotypes i.e. AA, AB and BB. Allele frequencies (A+B) were 0.2 and 0.8 in Pak-karakul and in case of Thalli it was 0.5 in each. The data from the present study suggests that SNPs in MSTN gene are present. Furthermore, scope of the present study may be enhanced to establish a marker for improved mutton production through conducting association studies at large scale.
Highlights
Myostatin (MSTN) belongs to the TGF-β superfamily of signal transduction proteins, which demonstrates a significant role in muscular growth and lipid metabolism (An et al, 2011)
The data from the present study suggests that Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in MSTN gene are present
Total no of animals of each breed 10 The formula of gene frequency is: (A+B)2= A2+B2+2AB Calculated Gene frequency and expected genotypic frequency is shown in the table 3 which is calculated by Hardy Weinberg law. These results showed that heterozygosity exists in local sheep breeds of Pakistan
Summary
Myostatin (MSTN) belongs to the TGF-β superfamily of signal transduction proteins, which demonstrates a significant role in muscular growth and lipid metabolism (An et al, 2011). It plays a major role as a adverse regulator in the development and growth of skeletal muscles. Different forms of MSTN gene exist in many livestock species and each form of gene has been associated with some productive trait (Gan et al, 2008) The polymorphism in this gene has been determined in various breeds of sheep (Zhou et al, 2008) and goat (Han et al, 2015). Variations in MSTN gene has been studied by various scientists (Tay, 2004) and interestingly these are being used as a selection marker for improved muscular yield commercially (Zhang et al, 2012)
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