MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF OVINE CALPASTATIN (CAST) AND MYOSTATIN (MSTN) GENES IN LAMBS FROM THREE BULGARIAN SHEEP BREEDS

Abstract

The aim of present study was to investigate the polymorphism of calpastatin and myostatin genes in sixty lambs from three Bulgarian sheep breeds – 34 lambs from Synthetic Population Bulgarian Milk (SPBM), 13 lambs from Cooper-Red Shumen and 13 lambs from Karakachan. CAST and MSTN genes are considered as candidate genes for meat and growth traits. Blood samples were collected and genomic DNA was extracted using commercial purification kit. Genotypes were determined by PCR amplification followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method. Based on results, calpastatin gene was found to be polymorphic in lambs from SPBM breed but in the other two breeds it was monomorphic. Myоstatin gene was monomorphic in all tested animals. The allelic frequencies in CAST gene were 0,91 for allele M and 0,09 for N. Genotype frequencies were 0,82 and 0,18 for MM and MN, respectively. Observed and expected heterozygosity for this locus were 0,163 and 0,176, respectively. Established polymorphism of CAST gene in SPBM lambs could be used in future research for detection of possible association between genotype and meat tenderness.