Abstract

The objective of the present investigation was to determine genetic variations leptin/Sau3AI in Holstein and native East Anatolian Red cattle by PCR-RFLP method. Blood samples were collected from 149 Holstein cows and 71 native East Anatolian Red cattle. A 495 bp fragment from exon II of the bovine leptin gene was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction and digested the PCR products with Sau3A1 restriction enzyme. The A allele frequency was 0.95 in both breeds. The frequencies of the genotypes AA, AB and BB were 0.92, 0.07 and 0.01 in Holstein and 0.93, 0.04 and 0.03 in East Anatolian Red cattle. The χ² test did not confirmed the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in both populations.

Key words: Leptin gene, PCR-RFLP, polymorphism, genetic resource, cattle.