Genetic polymorphism of KRT 1.2, kap 1.3 and THH gene in magra sheep

Physical traits of wool like fibre diameter, medullation, length and lustre are important in textile industry. Magra sheep has been recognised to possess good quality lustrous wool, which has high demand in the Indian carpet industry. The gene responsible for lustre wool in Magra sheep is not known. The present study was aimed to detect polymorphisms at three loci in candidate genes for wool quality viz., KRT 1.2, KAP 1.3 and THH in Magra sheep. KRT 1.2 and KAP1.3 loci were found polymorphic with three genotypes each viz., MM, MN and NN for the former and XX, XY and YY for the latter. Two genotypes (AAand AB) were observed in THH gene locus with genotype frequency of 0.97 and 0.03, respectively. The predominant genotypes were: MM for KRT 1.2, YY for KAP 1.3 and AA for THH locus. Sequence analysis of THH revealed that some repeats (intron) are missing in Magra sheep as compared to Merino sheep. Phylogenetic analysis with THH sequences of other domestic species revealed separate clustering of THH gene sequences in this study. This could be because of two novel SNPs in Magra sheep which have not been reported in any of the analysed species.