Background: Melanocortin-1-receptor gene (MC1R) plays a significant role in signaling cascade of melanin production. In cattle, the coat colors, such as red and black, are an outcome of eumelanin and pheomelanin pigments, respectively. The coat colors have become critical factors in the animal selection process. This study is therefore aimed at the molecular characterization of reddish-brown coat-colored Sahiwal cattle in comparison to the black and white-colored Karan Fries.
Results: The Sequence length of the MC1R gene was 954 base pairs in Sahiwal cattle. The sequences were examined and submitted to GenBank Acc.No. MG373575 to MG373605. Alignment of both (Sahiwal and Karan Fries) protein sequences by applying ClustalO multiple sequence alignment programs revealed 99.8-96.8% sequence similarity within the bovine. MC1R gene phylogenetic studies were analyzed by MEGA X. The gene MC1R tree, protein confines, and hereditary difference of cattle were derived from Ensemble Asia Cow Genome Browser 97. One unique single-nucleotide polymorphism (c.844C>A) (SNP) was distinguished. Single amino acid changes were detected in the seventh transmembrane structural helix region, with SNP at p.281 T>N of MC1R gene in Karan Fries cattle.
Conclusions: In this current research, we first distinguished the genomic sequence of the MC1R gene regions that showed evidence of coat variation between Indian indigenous Sahiwal cattle breed correlated with crossbreed Karan Fries. These variations were found in the Melanocortin 1 receptor coding regions of the diverse SNPs. The conclusions of this research provide new insights into understanding the coat color variation in crossbreed compared to the Indian Sahiwal cattle.
Keywords: Coat color; Karan Fries cattle (Bos taurus taurus); Melanocortin 1 receptor gene; SNPs; Sahiwal (Bos taurus indicus).