Phenotypic and molecular characterization of six Sudanese camel breeds

Abstract

The objective of this study was to sequence the growth hormone (GH) gene in Sudanese camel breeds (Kenani, Lahwee, Rashaidi, Anafi, Bishari and Kabbashi) searching for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and contribute to the phenotypic characterization of the multitude of camel ecotypes in Sudan. This will also afford the chance of investigating the possibility of the presence of correlations between body measurements and SNPs of GH gene. A length of 1732 bp, spanning the region between -44 bp upstream of the first exon and +37 bp downstream of the last exon was sequenced in two animals from each breed. The sequence comparison of Sudanese camel GH sequences with the GenBank sequence identified one single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). The SNP was detected in the non coding region (intron 1) in position AJ575419:g.419C>T. A PCR-RFLP method was used to genotype 181 animals representing the six tested Sudanese breeds for detected SNP. The Bishari and Anafi breeds that are classified as riding camels had slightly higher T allele frequencies (0.57 and 0.48, respectively) than those of the other four breeds which are classified as pack camels. The effect of genotype with regard to the SNP g.419C>T on those traits was not significant.