Genetic Polymorphism of KRT1.2 Gene and its Association with Improving of Some Wool Characteristics in Egyptian Sheep

摘要

Background and Objective: KRT genes were found to be the major factors that affect structure component of wool fiber. So, this study focused on the genetic polymorphism in KRT1.2 gene and identified the favorable genotypes associated with improving wool characteristics in some Egyptian sheep breeds. Methodology: One hundred and twelve animals were used to collect blood and wool samples. Measurements of important economically wool traits that involved staple length (STL), fiber diameter (FD), clean fleece weight (CFW) and staple strength (STR) were analyzed. DNA were extracted from whole blood samples. PCR-single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) was used to identify sequence variation. All allelic variation was confirmed by DNA sequencing. Results: SSCP analysis recorded 8 unique banding patterns. Some of these patterns, P5, P7, P2 and P3 were associated with strong effects on wool traits, STL, FD, CFW and STR, respectively. Nucleotide sequence analysis identified seven alleles A, B, C, D, E, F and G (F and G alleles are considered to be new ones) with eight genotypes, AB, DC, BE, DD, DE, DF and DG. The longer STL, lowest FD, high yield of CFW and improvement of STR were associated with DF (P5), DE (P7), DG (P2) and DD (P3) genotypes, respectively. Conclusion: The present study revealed that there is an association between genetic polymorphism of K33 gene and improving wool traits in Egyptian sheep.