1Animal Genetics and Breeding Division, ICAR-NDRI, Karnal-132 001, India
2Dairy Production Section, SRS of ICAR-NDRI, Bengaluru-560 030, India
3Regional Research Station (Punjab Agricultural University) Ballowal Saunkhri, SBS Nagar-144 521, India
4Research Program coordinator, CRS, BAIF, Pune-412 202, India
5Livestock Production & Management Section, ICAR-NDRI, Karnal-132 001, India
Genetics Laboratory Dairy Production Section, Southern Regional Station of ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Adugodi, Bengaluru-560 030, Karnataka, India
*Corresponding author's e-mail: raginindri@gmail.com
Online published on 4 April, 2018.
Aquaporin 7 (AQP7) gene is a member of aqua-glyceroporins which transports glycerol and water to spermatids. The present study aimed to investigate the polymorphisms within exons 2, 3, 4, 5 and their flanking intronic regions in AQP7 gene of Murrah bulls. Genomic DNA was extracted from 69 Murrah bulls blood samples and was subjected to polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis. PCR-SSCP analysis revealed a total of eight different variants for amplicons of exons 4 and 5. Amplicon of exon 4 revealed three different patterns viz. E4P1, E4P2 and E4P3 with the frequency of 0.30, 0.22 and 0.48, respectively. Analysis of exon 5 revealed five unique SSCP patterns viz. E5P1, E5P2, E5P3, E5P4 and E5P5, with the frequency of 0.10, 0.37, 0.20, 0.20 and 0.13, respectively. Sequence analysis showed 16 single nucleotide polymorphisms, 7 of which were observed in coding region. Amplicons of exons 2 and 3 showed monomorphic patterns. However, compared to the reference sequence of taurine cattle one transition (C6878T) in exon 3 and 4 transitions (G2099A, C2116T, A2117G, G6848C) in intron 2 were observed for all the bulls under study. The genetic variability identified in the AQP7 gene may serve as potential genetic marker(s) for semen quality traits in buffalo.
AQP7 gene, Murrah bulls, PCR-SSCP, Polymorphism
