DNA sequence and haplotype variation in two candidate genes for dilated cardiomyopathy in the turkey Meleagris gallopavo.

Determining variation in genes is fundamental to understanding their function in the disease state. Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and phospholamban (PLN) genes have been implicated in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in human and model species. To investigate the role of these 2 candidate genes in DCM in the turkey Meleagris gallopavo, understanding sequence variants and map position distribution is necessary. To this end, a total of 1854 and 1771 bp of cTnT and PLN gene sequences, respectively, were scanned for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a randomly bred population. A total of 15 SNPs was identified in the cTnT and PLN genomic sequences. Nine haplotypes, 5 in cTnT and 4 in PLN, were identified. Observed heterozygosities (0.02–0.39) in the turkey population were low for both genes. Within each gene, 1 SNP corresponding to a restriction enzyme site was identified and used to develop a PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) genotyping assay. The PLN gene was genetically mapped to turkey c...