Investigation of kappa casein (csn3) and lactoferrin (ltf) gene polymorphisms in Turkish donkey populations

In this study, genetic variation of CSN3 and LTF genes in Turkish donkey populations were determined using PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing methods. Genomic DNAs of 108 individuals from different regions of Turkey were used as material. PstI, EagI, DraII, MboI restriction enzymes were used to determine polymorphisms in CSN3 (235 bp) and LTF (750 bp) genes. CSN3 / PstI, LTF / DraII and LTF / MboI loci were found monomorphic for all of the studied samples. The digestion of LTF gene with EagI restriction enzyme produced three different genotypes as GG homozygous (666, 84 bp), AG heterozygous (750; 666, 84 bp) and AA homozygous (750 bp). A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) from Guanine to Adenine in the 89th position of the LTF gene, resulted the formation of different genotypes. This single nucleotide polymorphism was determined in donkeys for the first time. According to the results, G allele was found dominant in LTF / EagI locus in the studied Turkish donkey populations. In this study, the studied populations were not found in Hardy-Weinberg genetic equilibrium in terms of LTF / EagI genotype distributions (P <0.05). As CSN3 and LTF genes have not previously been studied in Turkish donkeys, these results are the first of a kind.