Investigation of polymorphism of alpha-lactalbumin gene in exon 1 and intron 2 and its association with milk production traits in buffaloes of East Azarbaijan province by PCR–SSCP technique.

Milk production traits and its components belong to quantitative and polygenic traits and affected by many genes. This study was conducted to determine the polymorphism in alpha-lactalbumin gene and its association with milk production traits using PCR-SSCP method in Eastern Azarbaijan native buffaloes. Milk samples were collected from 150 buffaloes of Eastern Azarbaijan province and then DNA samples were extracted using pronase method. After DNA extraction specific primers used for amplification of 392 bp fragment of exon 1 and intron 2 alpha-lactalbumin gene. To identify the polymorphism, PCR products were electrophoresed on polyacrylamide gel (single strand conformation polymorphism method) and stained with silver nitrate method. The frequency of the 1, 2 and 3 genotypic patterns were 87.5%, 10.71% and 1.78% respectively. The statistical analysis indicated that the effect of genotypes on milk production, lactose, fat percentage and protein percentage had no significant effect. Based on current results, the analysis of alpha-lactalbumin gene polymorphism cannot be used for improving milk yield and composition of buffalo in Azari population.