Genotypic frequency of <i>calpastatin</i> gene in lori sheep by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method

Abstract

Calpastatin is a natural occurring inhibitor of calpastatin (CAST) and consequently the balance of calpain-calpastatin activity in muscles is believed to dictate the rate of tenderization in post-mortem meat. Genomic DNA was extracted from 100 sheep blood sample. Polymerase chain reaction was performed to amplify a 622 bp fragment of this gene. Restriction reaction of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products was done using MspI enzyme. The MspI digestion of the PCR products produced digestion fragments of 336 and 286 bp. The results show that in the population, genotypes AA, AB and BB, respectively, had frequencies 32.2, 63.2 and 4.6, and that this locus was not at Hardy - Weinberg equilibrium in the lori sheep strain (P<0.05).

Keywords: Calpastatin gene, polymorphism, lori sheep, polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).

African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol 13(19), 1952-1954