Molecular characterization and SNP identification in HSPB1 gene in Murrah buffalo

Present study was conducted on 100 lactating Murrah buffaloes maintained at LRC, NDRI Karnal (Haryana) to characterize and to identify genetic polymorphisms in HSPB1 gene. Two sets of primers specific to coding sequence of HSPB1 gene were designed using Primer3 software and PCR products of 631 bp and 670 bp were obtained. Amplicons were custom sequenced and subjected to Clustal W analysis which revealed 8 nucleotide changes, 7 in non coding region and one in coding region in Murrah buffalo sequence as compared to Bos taurus. Only one SNP at nucleotide position G225A in exon 1 of HSPB1 gene was observed in Murrah buffalo, which resulted in two genotypes GG and AG with respective frequency of 0.84 and 0.16 indicating the existence of variability in the sampled population. The study has opened the possibility of identifying and using genetic variations in major heat shock protein genes, for the future improvement of livestock through marker assisted selection.