Investigation of alpha-lactalbumin and growth hormone gene polymorphism in Saanen goats

The aim of this study was to determine LALBA (alpha-lactalbumin) and GH (growth hormone) gene polymorphism in Saanen goat breed. Total of 72 head Saanen goats reared in Ege University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Science, Small Ruminant Research and Application Unit were used as animal material. The polymorphisms at third exon region of LALBA gene and second, third exon region of GH gene were analyzed by using PCR-RFLP method with MvaI and HaeIII restriction enzymes, respectively. In the LALBA/MvaI locus; A1A1 (128 bp, 140 bp) genotype and in the GH/HaeIII locus; AA (366 bp, 56 bp) and AB (422 bp, 366 bp, 56 bp) genotypes were found. LALBA/MvaI locus was found monomorphic. Two different alleles were identified as GH-A and GH-B at GH/HaeIII locus. GH-A allele frequency was observed higher than the GH-B allele as 0.77. The population exhibited significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in GH locus. Keywords: Goat, Saanen, GH, LALBA, polymorphism, PCR-RFLP, MvaI, HaeIII.