Abstract. Leptin is mainly secreted by white adipose tissue in animals. Leptin acts by
stimulating or inhibiting the release of a neurotransmitter, which
eventually results in a decrease in food/feed intake and an increase in
energy expenditure. In this investigation, the polymerase chain reaction
(PCR) coupled with single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis
was used to reveal nucleotide sequence variations in bovine leptin gene
(LEP) in 338 cattle of a variety of breeds farmed in New Zealand (NZ) and
Nigeria. These included NZ Hereford, Angus, Shorthorn, and crossbred
Holstein-Friesian × Jersey cattle and the Nigerian Sokoto Gudali,
Red Bororo, White Fulani, and crossbred Holstein-Friesian × White
Fulani cattle. Sequence analysis of three regions of bovine LEP that
encompassed selected coding and non-coding regions, revealed a total of
12 nucleotide sequence variations (six in exons and six in introns). Of
these, three are reported here for the first time, whereas nine have been
previously described. Some of the variations identified were common in both
the NZ and Nigerian cattle breeds, while others were peculiar to particular
breeds from a specific region. The sharing of common variants across
different breeds irrespective of geography may indicate an evolutionary
relationship, just as the differences within a breed might be
attributable to either selective pressure for specific traits or random genetic
drift. The detection of both new and previously documented variations in
bovine LEP suggests that the gene is highly variable.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.