Association of alpha-a globin gene polymorphism with its expression level in racing pigeons

The objective of the study was to investigate possible effect of the polymorphism in pigeon αA-globin (AGLOB) gene on its expression level. The g.5768C>T substitution located in 3′ flanking region of the gene was analyzed. PCR-RFLP (AvaII) method was used to identify the SNP. The gene expression analyses were performed using qPCR. The investigation indicated a difference but not significant in the αA-globin gene expression levels between pigeons carrying different g.5768C>T genotypes. The AGLOBCC genotype was associated with 2.46-fold higher expression level of pigeon αA-globin gene compared to AGLOBTT genotype. The lower expression of αA-globin gene in AGLOBTT pigeons may be caused by the presence of cis-acting regulatory elements in the analysed gene region.