Application of Microsatellite Markers for a Study of Kermani Sheep Genome

Kermani sheep breed is one of the major sheep breeds in Iran, especially in Kerman province for which no study has yet been carried out through Y-chromosome specific microsatellite markers. Throughout this study, amplification quality related to 17 bovine Y-chromosome specific microsatellites was evaluated for the mentioned sheep breed. One hundred males and twenty females of non-related animals were randomly selected and blood sampled. Genomic DNA was isolated from blood using DNA Purification Kit. PCR reactions making use of all the 17 primers were successfully done. All the primers, UMN0803, UMN0929, UMN0108, UMN3008, UMN0307, UMN0907, UMN2303, UMN0301, UMN0406, UMN0504, UMN2405, UMN2706, UMN2713, INRA057, INRA124, INRA189, and BM861 are found out to be polymorphs. In total, 102 alleles were observed in these 17 microsatellites, the highest, and the lowest number of which were observed in INRA124 (16 alleles) and UMN2303 (5 alleles), respectively. The results of this research indicated that bovine Y-chromosome specific microsatellites can be employed for a determination of the genetic diversity in sheep.