The İnvestigation Of Calpastatin And Thyroglobulin Gene Polymorphisms İn Some Native Cattle Breeds

In this study, calpastatin gene polymorphisms, known to have effect on meat tenderness, and thyroglobulin gene polymorphisms, known to affect marbling score, were investigated in some local cattle breeds raised in Turkey (Anatolian Native Black-ANT (n=36), Eastern Anatolian Red-EAR (n=51) and Turkish Grey-TG (n=52). The genetic variants in the bovine CAST and TG gene were analysed by using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. It was determined that while the calpastatin gene possessed the C allele, known to have a positive effect on meat tenderness, at a high frequency (0.67), suggesting that the local cattle breeds presented with a high potential for high quality meat production, the thyroglobulin gene was ascertained to possess the favourable T allele at a relatively low frequency (0.23), which could be increased with marker-assisted selection. It has been ascertained that the local cattle breeds investigated, and in particular the EAR had the potential to produce high quality red meat. Genetic analyses revealed the FIS, FIt and FSt values to be -0, 010, 0.045 and 0.055, respectively. These values showed that the local cattle breeds investigated displayed a high genetic diversity. Additionally, The allelic frequencies were calculated according to the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and the differences between the cattle breeds were found to be statistically significant.