Study of the Polymorphism of Leptin Gene and Its Association with some Growth Traits in Lori Bakhtiari and Lori Bakhtiari-Afshari Croessbreed Sheep

The purpose of this study was evaluation of leptin gene polymorphism by PCR-SSCP and its relationship with some growth traits in Lori Bakhtiari and crossbred of Lori Bakhtiari- Afshari sheep. Blood samples were collected from 58 sheep (male and female) of Lori-Bakhtiari in Shahr-e-Kord Sholi station and 42 sheep (male and female) of Lori Bakhtiari-Afshari crossbreed from villages of Shahr-e-Kord. DNA was extracted, using extraction kit of Sinnagen co. Evaluation of quality and quantity of DNA was performed using agarose gel electrophoresis and spectrophotometry. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was conducted to amplify 275 bp fragment of exon 3 of leptin gene. Then single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) of PCR products was performed and genotypic patterns were obtained using acrylamid gel and silver staining. For leptin gene in Lori bakhtiari sheep, 8 band patterns including L1to L8 and for crossbreeds sheep, 10 band patterns including L1to L10 were obtained. There was a high polymorphism in exon 3 of the leptin gene in both breeds. Also results of means comparison showed that the leptin gene was significantly associated with weight at 6 and 12 months.