Polymorphism of growth hormone gene in three goat breeds in Egypt

Karima Fathy Mahrous,Mohamed Abdel-Mordy,Hossam E Rushdi,Mohamed A M Abdel-Hafez,Sekena H Abdel-Aziem

doi:10.1186/s42269-018-0035-0

Abstract

BackgroundIn Egypt, like other developing countries, goats are prime resources of meat. So, selection of goats for superior growth rate is advantageous. Growth hormone (GH) is the main regulator of animal growth, and encoded by GH gene that exhibits active gene variants improving growth. The objective of this study was to identify GH gene variants in three goat breeds (Barki, Damascus, and Zaraibi), via polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) and gene sequencing analyses.ResultsThree loci on GH gene named GH1, GH2, and GH6 polymorphisms were analyzed. GH1-HaeIII/RFLP showed only two genotypes (AB and BB) in all breeds, with absent AA genotype. Both Barki and Zaraibi exhibited the highest GC genotype frequency (0.95). GH2-HaeIII/RFLP produced only two homozygous genotypes AA in Damascus and BB in both Barki and Zaraibi, with the absence of AB genotype in the three breeds. However, digestion of GH6 by HaeIII was monomorphic; it exhibited different single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), detected by DNA sequencing, among the studied goat breeds.ConclusionsThe revealed SNPs could be employed as useful markers, helping goat breeders in selection of goats for high growth performance. Further analyses with larger sample size are needed for investigating the relationship between the different genotypes and growth traits.

Highlights

In Egypt, like other developing countries, goats are prime resources of meat
Apart of the five goat breeds recognized in Egypt, Anglonubian breed, which is produced through crossing Egyptian Nubian breed with some British breeds (Latif et al 1987)
The aim of the present study was to screen the genetic polymorphism of goat Growth hormone (GH) gene in three common goat breeds in Egypt (Barki, Damascus, and Zaraibi) employing two genetic tools; PCR-Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing

Summary

Introduction

In Egypt, like other developing countries, goats are prime resources of meat. The objective of this study was to identify GH gene variants in three goat breeds (Barki, Damascus, and Zaraibi), via polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) and gene sequencing analyses. Goat is one of the main meat-producing animals in Egypt, and has a considerable contribution to the resource poor section of society for their livelihood (Abdelaziz et al 1995). In Egypt, there are five indigenous goat breeds: Baladi (the common breed in Nile Delta), Barki or Sahrawi (the predominant breed in desert), Sinaoy ( called Bedouin goat, found mainly in Sinai peninsula), Saidi (distributed widely in Upper Egypt), and Zaraibi ( known as Egyptian Nubian, the common breed in Nile Valley and Delta) (Galal et al.2005). Genetic improvement schemes of goats in Egypt have involved different crossbreeding trials with foreign breeds like Damascus goat, which is originated from Syria (Galal 2005)

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