Polymorphism of CTSK Gene in Afshari×Booroola Merino Cross Lambs and its Association with Carcass Traits and Blood Factors

Cathepsin K (CTSK) which is a member of Lysosome cysteine protease gene family was selected as a candidate gene for fat deposition and it was shown that this lysosomal proteinase is an obesity marker. The aims of this study were to investigate the association of polymorphism in exon 6 and partial of intron 5 region in the Cathepsin K (CTSK) genes with carcass treats and blood factors in Afshari×Booroola Merino male lambs. In the present study, 97 Afshari× Booroola Merino male lambs of about the same age were used. Blood samples were taken from all animals for DNA extraction and blood components such as triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL, LDL and VLDL were measured. Primers for target area were designed; the length of target DNA was 500 bp. The target DNA was amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and products were conducted to single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and sequencing in order to identify polymorphism in this area of CTSK gene. Two different genotypes namely GA and GG were found according to the bands on non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel and their frequency were 26 and74 percent respectively. Comparing graphs obtained by sequencing each fragment was identifiedsingle nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Results revealed the existence of a single nucleotide polymorphism
at nucleotide 150 of target area. It was found that there is an association between this polymorphism and the tail weight, carcass and blood factors such as cholesterol and VLDL in other hand. The results show that the CTSK gene can be used in breeding programs to improve the quality of the carcass.

Key words: Afshari×Booroola Merino lambs, Carcass fat, Cathepsin genes, Polymorphism, SSCP

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