NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE VARIATION IN LEPTIN GENE OF MURRAH BUFFALO (BUBALUS BUBALIS)

Leptin is a 16 kD protein, synthesized by adipose tissue and is involved in regulation of feed intake, energy balance, fertility and immune functions. Present study was undertaken with the objectives of sequence characterization and studying the nucleotide variation in leptin gene in Murrah buffalo. The leptin gene consists of three exons and two introns which spans about 18.9kb, of which the first exon is not transcribed into protein. In buffaloes, the leptin gene is located on chromosome eight and maps to BBU 8q32. The leptin gene was amplified by PCR using oligonucleotide primers to obtain 289 bp fragment comprising of exon 2 and 405 bp fragment containing exon 3 of leptin gene. The amplicons were sequenced to identify variation at nucleotide level. Sequence comparison of buffalo with cattle reveals variation at five nucleotide sequences at positions 983, 1083, 1147, 1152, 1221 and all the SNPs are synonymous resulting no in change in amino acids. Three of these eight nucleotide variations have been reported for the first time in buffalo. The results indicate conservation of DNA sequence between cattle and buffalo. Nucleotide sequence variations observed at leptin gene between Bubalus bubalis and Bos taurus species revealed 97% nucleotide identity.