Polymorphism of the ovine calpastatin gene in some Turkish sheep breeds

The calpastatin (CAST) gene has a major effect on muscle growth and meat tenderness after slaughter; it is located on the fifth chromosome in sheep. Blood samples were collected from 720 animals in total from Kivircik (KIV), Sakiz (SZ), Karacabey Merino (KM), and Gokceada (GA) sheep populations raised in West Anatolia. The PCR products were digested by the restriction endonuclease MspI. Allele frequencies for M and N alleles of the gene were found to be 0.85 and 0.15 in KIV, 0.80 and 0.20 in KM, 0.99 and 0.01 in GA, and 0.34 and 0.66 in SZ sheep, respectively. It was determined that NN genotype frequency was quite lower in KIV (0.04) and KM (0.07) populations than in the SZ breed (0.40). On the other hand, the NN genotype was not observed in the GA population. Populations other than KM were found to be in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. In general, allele and genotype frequencies of CAST were similar to those in other studies on different sheep populations. This research is a beginning step for finding candidate genes’ effects on meat quantity and quality.