Calpastatin <i>CAST</i> and Androgen Receptor <i>AR</i> Gene Polymorphism Studyas Meat Quality Predictors in Reindeer <i>Rangifer tarandus</i>

Marker-based selection on reindeer meat productivity is in the early stages of development, which requires the study of variability in candidate genes for meat productivity. We chose the calpastatin and androgen receptor genes as such genes to study. Polymorphisms and indels in the androgen receptor gene have been associated with height and weight characteristics in different domesticated animal species. Variation in the region of the calpastatin CAST gene, according to the results of many studies, has been associated with meat quality and meat productivity of livestock. Principal component analysis of CAST variability has grouped together wild and domestic deer from Yakutia, as well as wild and domestic deer from the Amur region, which implies gene flow between local breeds of domesticated deer and wild populations. Moreover, in the case of three microsatellite loci found in this study in the intron of the androgen receptor, principal component analysis separated wild and domestic deer.