Molecular Analysis of Leptin Gene Polymorphism in Achai, Sahiwal Cattle and Nili-ravi Buffalo Breeds of Pakistan

Pakistan is blessed with rich sheep genetic resources and being a source of milk, meat and wool sheep breeds are reared across the country. Despite its great economic importance very limited work has been done in Pakistan on sheep genetic exploration. Leptin hormone plays important role in milk yield, body weight, energy balance, feed intake, immune function and fertility performance in animals. The current study was carried out to investigate genetic polymorphism in exon III of Leptin gene (LEP) in indigenous animal breeds (Nilli-ravi buffalo, Sahiwal and Achai cattle) of Pakistan using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). PCR-RFLP analysis revealed that all the three studied animals breeds were polymorphic for i>LEP gene (having all the three genotypes AA, AB and BB) with frequency of 60%, 33% and 7% in Nili-ravi buffalo, 55%, 41% and 4% in Achai cattle and 52%, 45% and 3% in Sahiwal cattle breed. The genotype BB is highly desirable in cattle and buffalo breeds but its frequency is very low in our indigenous population. Studying genetic polymorphism of milk protein is important due to its application in dairy industry and these in formations could further be utilized for future breeding programs particularly for the enrichment of the rare genotype.