Identification of Novel Mutations in IL-2 Gene in Khorasan Native Fowls

The intron-exon structure of Khorasan native fowl interleukin-2 (IL-2) was investigated. For this purpose, twenty chickens were selected from the Native Fowl Breeding Station of Khorasan province, and genomic DNA was extracted using a modified conventional DNA extraction protocol. An 875 bp fragment of IL-2 was successfully amplified, including a small part of the promoter, exon 1, intron 1, and exon 2. To report a novel mutation in IL-2, PCRsequencing techniques were applied to the gene obtained from Khorasan native fowls. Then, the sequences were compared to evaluate gene mutations using CLC Main Workbench V. 5.5. The I-TASSER server was used to predict the 3-dimensional structure and function of protein molecules from amino acid sequences. The results of the comparison showed mutations in the DNA fragments of the sample birds, which caused changes in the amino acid content of IL-2. Substitutions at points 733, 738, 744, and 794 bp in the sequence were for C/A, A/T, C/A, and C/T, respectively. The translation of nucleotide to protein using BLASTx in the NCBI revealed that nucleotide substitutions caused three amino acid substitutions including A/E, R/W, and P/T.