No abstract

The study reports the identification of novel SNPs in candidate genes for mutton quality across a panel of eleven phenotypically and geographically diverse Indian sheep breeds. The investigated candidate genes were CAPN4, CAST, FABP3 and DGAT1 which are known to be polymorphic. Nine novel SNPs could be identified across the studied gene loci which were in the heterozygous condition. One SNP in the exon 1 of DGAT1 was non-synonymous. The average expected heterozygosity determined in the eleven Indian sheep breeds at these loci was 0.328. The allele and genotype frequencies for all the identified SNPs were determined. The average haplotype and nucleotide diversity across all loci were 0.545 and 0.206 respectively. The information generated provides preliminary indication of the functional diversity present in Indian sheep. Future studies will be required to establish the effect of the reported SNPs in the Indian sheep populations.