Molecular Characterization and Sequencing of Interleukin-15 (IL15Rα) in Poonchi Chicken from Jammu and Kashmir

Conservation and promotion of native breeds is important for developing disease resistant and resilient genotypes. Present study is the first study on molecular characterization of immune related genes in Poonchi chicken population of Jammu, India. Interleukin-15 (IL-15Rα) is involved in generating immune response by acting as a growth factor in recruiting T and NK cells.

RNA isolation followed by cDNA synthesis from freshly collected blood samples of Poonchi was done. PCR amplification with specific primers was carried out for IL-15Rα gene of 243 bp size. Sanger sequencing was followed by analysis with BioEdit and MEGA X softwares. Variation was observed within the Poonchi chicken population under study and also with other breeds like Kadaknath and Leghorn.

Result showed a single nucleotide polymorphism change of T→C. The amino acid compositions showed that GC content was higher than AT content. The within population genetic distance was 0.0078. Sustainable variation was observed through multiple alignment and genetic distance studies which suggest further association studies should be carried with larger Poonchi chicken population to identify presence and absence of resistant genotypes.