Genetic Diversity in Casein Gene Cluster in a Dromedary Camel (<i>C. dromedarius</i>) Population from the United Arab Emirates

• Main Authors: Abdullah Al Mutery, Naushad Rais, Walaa KE Mohamed, Tlili Abdelaziz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
• Series: Genes
• Subjects: Casein; <i>CSN1S1</i>; <i>CSN1S2</i>; <i>CSN2</i> and <i>CSN3</i>; camel; dromedary
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/12/9/1417

Genetic polymorphisms, causing variation in casein genes (<i>CSN1S1</i>, <i>CSN1S2</i>, <i>CSN2</i>, and <i>CSN3)</i>, have been extensively studied in goats and cows, but there are only few studies reported in camels. Therefore, we aimed to identify alleles with functional roles in the United Arab Emirates dromedary camel (<i>Camelus dromedarius)</i> population to complement previous studies conducted on the same species. Using targeted next-generation sequencing, we sequenced all genes in the casein gene cluster in 93 female camels to identify and characterize novel gene variants. Most variants were found in noncoding introns and upstream sequences, but a few variants showed the possibility of functional impact. <i>CSN2</i> was found to be most polymorphic, with total 91 different variants, followed by <i>CSN1S1, CSN3</i> and <i>CSN1S2. CSN1S1, CSN1S2</i> and <i>CSN2</i> each had at least two variants while <i>CSN3</i> had only one functional allele. In future research, the functional impact of these variants should be investigated further.