Polymorphism of the callipyge gene in an Albanian sheep breed and association with body weight

Abstract

The callipyge (CLPG) gene is a candidate gene associated with meat production in sheep. The purpose of the study was to identify the association of polymorphisms in the 3'UTR of the CLPG (MEG3) gene in Albanian sheep breed with morphometric traits and body weight. A total of 87 individuals were studied regarding the morphometric traits and the polymorphisms of 3'UTR of the CLPG (MEG3) gene. The frequency of the mutated allele (T) was 0.339. The less frequent genotype was TT. The population was in Hardy Weinberg equilibrium. The fixation index was 10.2% indicating a moderate level of inbreeding. The results indicated no significant effect of this locus on morphometric traits and body weight. The preliminary data provided in this study suggest that the nucleotide change in the 3′UTR can be used in marker-assisted selection to increase the body weight of animals.