Characterization of calpastatin gene in Iranian Afshari sheep

Document Type : Brief Report

Authors

1 Malaria and Vector Research Group, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, P.O. Box:1316943551, Tehran, I.R. Iran.

2 Animal Science Department, College of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, P.O. Box 313, Zanjan, I.R. Iran.

Abstract

Calpastatin is an endogenous inhibitor of calpain (calcium-dependent cysteine protease). Calpastatin activity
is highly related to the rate of protein turnover and rate of meat tenderization. In order to characterize the
structure of calpastatin in Iranian Afshari breed of sheep, intron 6 and partial exon 7 of the L domain were
amplified and sequenced. A fragment of approximately 1.5 kb was identified. In this study, an Afshari calpastatin gene fragment that encoded L Domain amino acids was detected. Hence by detection of such conserved mutations, it is possible to use these polymorphisms in Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS).

Keywords