Molecular characterization of Mx gene polymorphism in Gerze chicken breed and pure line chicken breed

Abstract

Mx proteins, found in many organisms including birds and mammals, are reported to
show antiviral activity by inhibiting replication of various viruses. In the present study,
43 samples of conserved Gerze chicken from Gerze District Directorate of Agriculture and
50 samples of pure lines from Ankara Poultry Research Institute were examined for
determining of allelic frequencies of reported as a marker loci related to resistance “NEF2
and R2 / R” and “NE-F2 and R2 / S” using RsaI and SspI restriction endonucleases by
Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP)
method. Allele frequencies of resistant (Mx⁺) and sensitive allele (Mx^-) were found to be
98 and 2 % in Gerze chicken breed population respectively. Virus resistant allele (Mx⁺)
was 52 % and sensitive allele (Mx^-) frequency was 48 % in the pure line population. As a
result of the study, Gerze chicken breed population was concluded as a valuable resource
that could be used for disease resistance in chicken breeding.
Keywords: Gerze chicken, Mx proteins, Mx gene, PCR-RFLP, Resistant allele