The effect of calpastatin gene on meat quality traits in Turkish sheep breeds

This research aimed to examine the effects of haplotype groups observed in three different loci on the Calpastatin gene on ultrasonographic MLD measurements and seasonal live weight in five different types of sheep (GBK, HM, K, KM, and R). In the CAST intron 1, intron 5, and intron 12 regions, 15 SNPs were found. The HWE p-value for SNP2, SNP3, SNP5, SNP6, SNP7, SNP8, and SNP14 is less than 0.05, and except SNP9 and SNP10, all SNPs have a MAF of more than 0.01. SNP1, SNP2, and SNP7 made up one haplotype block. The haploblock has 3 haplogroups. The most common haplotype group was H1 (-AGG-), which had a frequency of 0.52; H2 (-TGG-) and H3 (-TAA-) had rates of 0.35 and 0.13, respectively. Based on ultrasonographic MLD readings and live weights, there were no statistically significant differences between haplotype H1 and H3, but there were statistically significant differences between haplotype H2 lambs. The effect of the H2 haplotype on 90-day MLD depth revealed a statistically significant difference between the HM and KM and K and KM breeds. This distinction persisted until the 180th day of life before disappearing into adulthood. Similarly, the effect of H2 haplotype on the skin thickness at day 90 was significant between K and KM and between K and R, whereas the effect of H2 haplotype on fat thickness demonstrated a substantial difference between HM and KM at one year of age.