Identification of polymorphism of the callipyge mutation gene (CLPG) in goats and its associations with production traits.

The Dorset ram with Callipyge phenotype shows muscular hypertrophy at buttock, and its inheritance is polar overdominance. A partial DNA fragment of 250 bp in goat (Capra hircas) Callipyge mutation gene(CLPG) (GenBank Accession No.EU753362) was obtained, and had a 96.04% and 88.65% identity with the corresponding region of ovine (Ovis aries) and porcine CLPG, respectively. And a polymorphism in the DNA fragment was detected by PCR-SSCP. Sequencing results indicated that no A→C mutation was corresponding to ovine CLPG, whereas a A→C transversion located 147 bp downstream from the CLPG site was identified. The polymorphism was named after its position as SNP216 was investigated in Boer (n = 63), Laiwu Black (n = 70), Lubei White × Boer Hybrid (n = 40), Lubei White (n = 29) and Inner Mongolia Alashan white cashmere (n = 115) goat populations. The results indicated that allele A was predominant in the four goat populations of Boer, Laiwu Black, Lubei White × Boer Hybrid and Inner Mongolia Alashan white cashmere, and except for the Inner Mongolia Alashan White cashmere goat, the other four populations were in the state of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P 0.05). In Inner Mongolia Alashan white cashmere goats, least square means of birth weight, production of cashmere and body weight gain from birth to weaning between AA and AC were not significantly different (P 0.5).