Nucleotide sequence analysis of Mx1 gene in Japanese quail

During the process of increasing production potential of poultry, other economically important traits like disease resistance are neglected and ultimately leading to decrease in quality food production. The poultry health management is important due to emergence of highly pathogenic diseases like Avian Influenza. Mx1 gene has been reported to provide resistance against avian influenza virus in chicken. Therefore, present research work was focused to identify the genetic variation of Mx1 gene in Japanese quail. Total three fragments viz. Frag-I of 185 bp (Exon 3 region), Frag-II of 161 bp (Exon 7 region) and Frag-III of 176 bp (Exon 13 region) of Mx1 gene in 170 Japanese quail birds were amplified and screened for polymorphism by PCR-SSCP technique. All the three fragments were found to be monomorphic which was confirmed by dideoxy nucleotide sequencing. Comparative analysis of Mx1 sequence of Japanese quail by MegAlign programme of DNASTAR showed 100% homology with common quail and more than 80% homology with Rhode Island Red and Silki chicken breeds.