Abstract

In chickens, leptin is expressed mainly in the liver and adipose tissue. In Iran, Mazandaran native fowls are under recording and breeding programs, but according to the action modes and importance of the leptin receptor, its polymorphisms can be related to economical traits such as body weight. In this study, in order to identify allelic polymorphism in leptin gene receptor, a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method was used. Blood samples were collected randomly from 100 individuals. The DNA extraction was based on a salting-out method, while an amplified polymerase chain reaction technique was used. The quantity and quality of extracted DNA were examined using spectrophotometric and agarose gel electrophoresis. A strategy, employing polymerase chain reaction, was used to amplify a 374 bp fragment of 9 to 11 exon leptin gene receptor. Digestion of amplicons with HaeIII revealed leptin gene receptor. The obtained results from restriction digestion showed none of the polymorphism in leptin receptor gene, so all samples were monomorph due to the fact that there was no mutation that was related to polymorphism.

Key words: Leptin gene receptor, PCR- RFLP, polymorphism, fowl, HaeIII.

Abbreviation

Abbreviations: PCR, Polymerase chain reaction; RFLP, restriction fragment length polymorphism; LEP, leptin; LEPR, leptin receptor; NPY, neuropeptide Y.