Association of Sequence Variants in the CKM (Creatine Kinase, M-Type) Gene with Racing Performance of Homing Pigeons

The aim of the study was to analyze the associations between SNPs in the creatine kinase gene (CKM) and racing performance of homing pigeons. A 468-base pairs fragment of the CKM gene (a part of exon 11 and 3'UTR) was amplified. Five PCR products were sequenced. Two substitutions in the amplified region were observed (g.588268 T>C and g.588285 T>C). PCR-RFLP method was used to genotype 123 racing pigeons (CKM/Hpy188I and CKM/BsrDI) for the further association analysis. The frequencies of genotypes analyzed were: CKM/Hpy188ICC – 0.008, CKM/Hpy188ICT – 0.057, CKM/Hpy188ITT – 0.935 and CKM/BsrDICC– 0.008, CKM/BsrDICT– 0.016, CKM/BsrDITT– 0.976. The effect of one SNP studied on racing performance of pigeons was statistically significant. The largest difference in ace points (APs) was found for CKM/BsrDI (g.588285 T>C). Individuals with the CC and CT genotypes had lower racing performance than TT ones. The differences between CC and TT pigeons were statistically significant (p = 0.0391). Thus, racing pigeons with the most common genotypes (TT) had better racing performance than individuals with minor allele in genotype. However, the observation of an individual with CC genotype in the CKM/Hpy188I with the highest APs in two seasons studied complicates the final conclusion. Based on the obtained results, it may be concluded that two SNPs in the CKM detected in this study were not the major determinant of racing performance in sport pigeons.