Polymorphism in the ovine calpastatin gene

There is evidence that variation in the calpastatin gene exists among breeds of cattle. It has been suggested that such variation contributes to differences in muscle growth and postmortem conditioning of meat. The objective of this work was to determine if variation also exists in the calpastatin gene of sheep. Digestion of sheep DNA with BamHI restriction endonuclease, gave identifiable bands when probed with a bovine calpastatin cDNA probe. Reproducible variation, similar to that reported for cattle genomic DNA was detected in the banding pattern among breeds of sheep. Further variation in the ovine calpastatin gene was identified using primers designed to the bovine calpastatin gene and optimised PCR-SSCP conditions. In the breeds examined, two alleles, inherited in a Mendelian fashion were discovered by examination of small families. Either of the techniques used to detect variation/polymorphism in the calpastatin gene in these studies, may be further examined for its linkage to meat tenderness. Ultimately this may lead to the selection for reduced calpastatin activity to enhance meat quality by increasing meat tenderness