Abstract
The Anatolian water buffalo is a native water buffalo breed only being reared in Turkey. The objective of this study was to investigate gene polymorphisms on exons 4 and 5 of the growth hormone (GH) and on exon 10 of the growth hormone receptor (GHR), which are thought to be related to meat yields of Anatolian water buffalo. Blood samples of 192 water buffaloes from Sivas Province were used in DNA extractions by phenol-chloroform method. DNA samples were amplified by using specific primers in PCR. PCR products were digested by Alu I (GH, n: 167) and Alu I (GHR, n: 192) restriction enzymes in order to determine polymorphisms. Digested PCR products were separated in 2.5%-3% agarose gel electrophoresis to determine allelic polymorphisms. As a result, the LL (78.44%) and LV (21.56%) genotypes and L (0.89) and V (0.11) alleles for the GH gene and the AA (7.81%) and AG (92.19%) genotypes and A (0.54) and G (0.46) alleles for the GHR gene were obtained. Gene polymorphisms were not detected (P > 0.05) on the GH gene, but a significant difference was found for the GHR gene (P < 0.001). Therefore, it can be said that Anatolian water buffaloes have increased meat yield due to the presence of genotypes in gene regions. This was the first investigation of enzyme polymorphisms of the GHR gene in Anatolian water buffaloes.
Highlights
Water buffalo is a species reared in various countries of the world for supporting agricultural economy and for its meat, milk, leather yield, and horns (Michelizzi et al, 2010)
The objective of this study was to investigate meat yieldrelated growth hormone (GH) gene and growth hormone receptor (GHR) gene polymorphisms by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-RFLP method in water buffaloes reared in Sivas Province, Turkey
No statistical significance was determined in Anatolian water buffaloes for GH gene polymorphisms (P > 0.05)
Summary
Water buffalo is a species reared in various countries of the world for supporting agricultural economy and for its meat, milk, leather yield, and horns (Michelizzi et al, 2010). It has been reported that water buffaloes as a species migrated to Italy from Central Europe around the 6th century, and in approximately the 7th century they migrated towards the Arabian Peninsula through the Moroccan Gulf (Michelizzi et al, 2010). It has been reported that the swamp breed of water buffalo originated from Southeast China and was domesticated 5000 years ago. It has been reported that the river breed of water buffalo originated from India and was domesticated 4500 years ago (FAO, 2015). According to 2014 data (FAO, 2015), it is reported that 123 water buffalo breeds are present in the world. The highest number of breeds with a total of 90 breeds are found on the Asian continent, whereas only one breed is
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
