Polymorphism of exon 10 of GHR gene by PCR- SSCP method and its association with growth traits in Kermani sheep breed

Expression of the Growth Hormone receptor (GHR) gene which is located on the sixteenth chromosome of sheep and its binding with GH is essential for growth and fat metabolism. In this study، blood samples were collected from the jugular vein from 88 sheep of Kermani breed. DNA was extracted from blood sample using the modified salting out method for amplification of 155 bp fragment containing a part of exon 10 of GHR genes. Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP) was used for genotyping. The vertical electrophoresis of PCR products was performed on 12 percent polyacrylamide gel، at 300 V، for 17 h at 4 ˚C. The silver-staining of gels، resulted identification of six genotypic patterns: 1، 2، 3، 4، 5 and 6 with frequencies of 9. 09، 4. 54، 13. 63، 9. 09، 35. 22 and 28. 40 percent، respectively. Analysis of variance was performed using SAS software and association of different patterns was not significant with growth traits.