EXPRESSION PATTERNS OF OVINE IGF-I GENE IN HEART OF SOME NIGERIAN SHEEP BREEDS

Abstract

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1) is encoded by the IGF-1 gene as it is a gene considered to be a candidate marker associated with growth traits in livestock. Tissue IGF-I concentrations at an early age may be useful indicators of growth rate potential and help in selection of fast growing animals. However, there is dearth of information on gene expression patterns as it affecis phenotypic traits in Nigerian sheep. Tissue samples were collected from organ (heart) of the three breeds (Balami, Uda
and Yankasa) and five (5) sample from each sex. Messenger RNA was isolated treated with RNase-free DNase RNA converted to cDNA. qPCR protocol were performed using first strand reverse transcription of extracted Messenge RNA into cDNA. cDNA were then used as the template for the qPCR reactions using the SYBR green. The objectives of the study is to determine mRNA expression of ovine lgf-1 gene in heart of some Nigerian sheep breeds. The study showed that the growth-related gene was relatively expressed in heart tissue of the adult sheep. The fold change indicates IGF-I gene is up regulated in the heart of Uda followed by Balami and Yankasa. This study provides insight into the differential abundance of the gene in heart tissues amongst the three sheep breeds. Uda expresses IGF-I gene better than Balami and Yankasa breed, these may indicate better performance in Uda breed. Farmers can decide to select Uda for further improvement in their population.