Study of Calpastatin Gene Polymorphism in Holstein Cattle and Buffalo

Abstract

In this research for studying genetic polymorphism of calpastatin (CAST) gene as candidate gene for marker-assisted selection in different domestic livestock species, blood samples were collected from 50 Holstein cattle and 40 buffalo randomly. DNA was extracted from blood samples and a 622 bp fragment of the L region of exon and intron 1 of this gene were amplificated by polymerase chain reaction. PCR products were analyzed using restriction fragment of length polymorphism (RFLP) method and restriction reaction were done using MspI enzyme. Results indicate that there are two alleles (M and N) and three (MM, MN in Holstein cattle and MN, NN in Buffalo) genotypes for this genes. The chi-square test revealed that this locus was not at Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in the Holstein cattle while buffalo herd showed equilibrium (P<0.05).

Keywords

• buffalo
• calpastatin gene
• holstein cattle
• polymorphism
• pcr-rflp