GENETIC DIVERSITY OF LEPTIN GENE INTRON 2 IN WILD AND NATIVE AND EXOTIC GOAT BREEDS IN IRAN

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the intron 2 of leptin gene polymorphism in wild, native and exotic goat breeds in Iran using PCR-RFLP. Blood samples were collected from 14 wild and domestic goat breeds including (Cashmere Abadeh, Torki-Ghashghaei, Naeini, Robati, Nadoushani, Adani, Shahrbabaki, Birjandi, China goat, Sannen, Pakistani, Raeini cashmere, Najdi and Wild goat) and then the genomic DNA was extracted. A 422bp fragment from intron 2 of the leptin gene was amplified. PCR products were digested by Sau3AI restriction enzyme and were separated and visualized on the agarose gel. Three genotypes including MM, Mm and mm with genotype frequency of 94%, 1% and 5%, respectively, were observed in the studied populations. The number of observed alleles, number of the effective alleles, Nei’s Index and Shanon’s Index were 2, 1.10, 0.09 and 0.19, respectively. The studied populations were not found to be in a Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Our investigation demonstrated that MM genotype and M allele had a very high frequency (0.94 and 0.95, respectively) in Iranian goats. Hence, it can be concluded that this finding can provide basis for selection when considering evolution and differentiation among breeds, however further studies should be carried out on a larger population of different domestic and wild breeds to verify the final conclusions.