Abstract
Myostatin, or growth and differentiation factor-8(GDF-8) is a member of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß superfamily. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between genetic polymorphism of the myostatin gene with the body-weight of Iraqi local ducks by DNA sequence analysis. The results of DNA sequence showed nitrogen base change (G?A) at 129 base pair sites of the exon1 of MSTN gene. Therefore, two alleles, G and A and two patterns of genotypes, GG, AG were observed. The observed numbers of GG and AG genotypes were 25 and 6, respectively. The G allele was of the highest frequency (0.9) while A allele showed the lowest frequency (0.1). The GG genotype showed the highest frequency (80.65%) and AG genotype showed the lowest frequency (19.35%). Additionally, the percentages of observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.19 and 0.17 respectively. Moreover, the percentages of observed and expected homozygosity were 0.80 and 0.82, respectively. The average heterozygosity was 0.17. The results revealed no significant (P?0.05) effect of the MSTN gene on body weight.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
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
