Polymorphisms in MyoD1, MyoG, MyF5, MyF6, and MSTN genes in Santa Inês sheep

Abstract: The objective of this work was to sequence the MyoD1, MyoG, MyF5, MyF6, and MSTN genes and to identify polymorphisms in Santa Inês sheep (Ovis aries). A total of 192 lambs with 240 days of age were evaluated, and these genes were sequenced to be compared with the reference sequence in the Ovis aries genome. Genotype and allele frequencies were estimated, and the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was tested. Fragments containing 2,493 bp (MyoD1), 1,836 bp (MyoG), 2,813 bp (MyF5), 1,126 bp (MyF6), and 2,380 bp (MSTN) were obtained, and, in these sequences, 160 variants were identified. These polymorphisms were distributed as follows: 59 (MyoD1), 24 (MyoG), 63 (MyF5), 4 (MyF6), and 10 (MSTN). One hundred and four were novel polymorphisms, 45 in MyoD1, 2 in MyoG, 56 in MyF5, and 1 in MSTN. Regarding site, 61 were in intron (27 in MyoD1, 16 in MyoG, 5 in MyF5, 3 in MyF6, and 10 in MSTN), 87 in coding region (22 in MyoD1, 8 in MyoG, 56 in MyF5, and 1 in MyF6), and 12 on 3’UTR (10 in MyoD1 and 2 in MyF5). Therefore, the MyoD family and MSTN genes have several polymorphisms in Santa Inês sheep, which can be useful for association studies.