Study of myostatin gene polymorphism (MSTN) in Iranian Arabian horses

The Arabian horse is one of the oldest horse breeds in the world. This race has performed well in endurance races and in general athletic performance and has been instrumental in the formation of some of the world's leading races. In this case, polymorphism was investigated in two Arab (original and non-authentic) Khuzestan regions using RFLP method. For this purpose, blood samples were taken from 20 Iranian Arabian horses (the first 10 samples of the original Arabian horse and the next 10 samples of the non-native Arabian horse). DNA was extracted from blood samples and then the polymerase chain reaction was performed to amplify the myostatin gene. The PCR product is affected by the enzyme in the PCR-RFLP reaction. Samples were analyzed for genotyping. The results showed that the average heterozygosity observed was 0.477 and the expected heterozygosity average was 0.477 in the genuine Arabian horse population. The effective allele number was 1.918 in the genuine Arabian horse population and 1.934 in the non-native Arabian horse population. The highest and lowest values ​​of Shannon index in genuine Arabian horse population were 0.693 and 0.500, respectively. The present study showed that there are polymorphisms in myostatin gene loci in both populations. Polymorphisms of this gene can be used as a candidate to identify differences in the genetic potential of different Arabian horse populations.