Effects of genetic variants and mapping assignments of the ovine calpain regulatory subunit gene on chromosome 14

The aim of this study was to search genetic variants, to map the ovine calpain regulatory subunit gene (CAPN4S) on chromosomes, and to find associations between single nucleotide (nt) polymorphisms (SNPs) and weight traits. Genotyping was performed with 226 purebred, 133 crossbred and 122 animals from eight sheep reference families. The polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism analysis detected genetic variants in the genomic regions between exons 4 and 8. Nt polymorphisms were confirmed at positions 115 (G/C) with CAPN445, 71 (A/G) with CAPN456, and 25 (A/G) and 44 (A/T) with the CAPN478 segments. The Polypay and Targhee purebreds showed significantly different allele frequencies while the mixed population was placed between pure breeds. The two-point linkage analysis using the CRI-MAP version 2.4 identified locations of the CAPN4S segments, showing that CAPN4S is closely linked with the LSCV30 microsatellite marker on chromosome 14. The genotypes of g.45923178G > C had significant mean differences for BWT and WWT, meaning that the identified SNP may be used in marker assisted selection programs. A significant haplo-block was constructed between g.45924950T > C and g.45924969A > T, and major frequencies were observed as AA (0.727) and GT (0.267).