Polymorphism and chromosomal location of the MC4R (melanocortin-4 receptor) gene in the dog and red fox.
The melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) is expressed in the hypothalamus and regulates energy intake and body weight. In silico screening of the canine chromosome 1 sequence and a comparison with the porcine MC4R sequence by BLAST were performed. The nucleotide sequence of the whole coding region and 3'- and 5'-flanking regions of the dog (1214 bp) and red fox (1177 bp) MC4R gene was established and high conservation of the nucleotide sequences was revealed (99%). Five sets of PCR primers were designed and a search for polymorphism was performed by the SSCP technique in a group of 31 dogs representing nineteen breeds and 35 farm red foxes. Sequencing of DNA fragments, representing the identified SSCP patterns, revealed three single nucleotide polymorphisms (including a missense one) in dogs and four silent SNPs in red foxes. An average SNP frequency was approx. 1/400 bp in the dog and 1/300 bp in the red fox. We mapped the MC4R gene by FISH to the canine chromosome 1 (CFA1q1.1) and to the red fox chromosome 5 (VVU5p1.2).
Skorczyk
Anna
A
Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Agricultural University of Poznan, Poland.
Stachowiak
Monika
M
Szczerbal
Izabela
I
Klukowska-Roetzler
Jolanta
J
Schelling
Claude
C
Dolf
Gaudenz
G
Switonski
Marek
M
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D033481:Chromosomes, Mammalian; D004285:Dogs / Q000235:genetics*; D005589:Foxes / Q000235:genetics*; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D044105:Receptor, Melanocortin, Type 4 / Q000235:genetics*
D044105:Receptor, Melanocortin, Type 4