Study of polymorphism in exon 14 of Diacylglycerol O-Acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) Gene in Dromedary Camel of Khuzestan

The Diacylglycerol O-Acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) gene plays a key role in the production of triglycerides and milk fat by encoding the enzyme DGAT1. Recent research has shown that polymorphisms in the DGAT1 gene affect milk production. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate polymorphism in exon 14 region of DGAT1 gene in Khuzestan dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) using PCR-SSCP method. To perform this experiment, blood samples were collected from 80 dromedary camels in Khuzestan province. After DNA extraction, a 310-bp fragment of exon 14 region of DGAT1 gene was amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Six different SSCP patterns, including six different genotypes of AA (45%), AB (33.75%), BB (5%), CC (3.75%) , DD (2.5%) and EE (10%) and five alleles including A (0.619), B (0.219), C (0.038), D (0.025) and E (0.1) were identified. Moreover, the chi-square (χ2) test showed that the population was not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The number of effective alleles, Shannon index, expected and observed heterozygosity for this site was calculated 2.259, 1.07, 0.557 and 0.338, respectively. The results indicated polymorphism and low heterozygosity in the population under study. It is suggested to increase the diversity in the dromedary camel population of Khuzestan by developing appropriate breeding programs.