Abstract
Serum lysozyme gene is one of the important genes influencing the immune system as its product can cause lysis of bacterial cell wall by cleaving the peptidoglycan layer. The present investigation on the serum lysozyme gene of Indian riverine buffalo was undertaken with the objectives to identify and characterize single nucleotide polymorphic patterns by PCR-SSCP method as well as to study the effect of different genotypes on serum lysozyme activity and somatic cell count. A total of 280 animals comprising four different famous bubaline breeds (Murrah, Mehsana, Surti and Bhadawari), spread over six different farms across the country were used for this study. A 276 bp (partial intron 2, complete exon 3 and partial intron 3) fragment of lysozyme gene was screened for polymorphism using the SSCP technique. Four genotypes namely AA, AB, BC and AC were observed, out of which BC genotype was found to be the most frequent. Among these three alleles, C allele (0.38) was most prevalent in these populations. Various SSCP allelic variants were cloned for sequencing and sequences were submitted to NCBI Genbank. From the alignment of the nucleotide sequences of various allelic variants, it was found that there were differences in 12 positions among the alleles, out of which maximum variation (at 8 places) was found in the intronic region. The allele A was closer to allele-C than allele-B. Allele B was phylogenetically equidistant from both of the other alleles. Mean lysozyme activity determined in serum samples of different animals of Murrah buffalo was $27.35{\pm}2.42\;{\mu}g$ per ml of serum, whereas the mean somatic cell count was $1.25{\pm}0.13{\times}10^5$ cells per ml of milk. The SSCP pattern-wise effects of various genotypes on lysozyme activity and SCC were analyzed. Although the mean values were apparently different in various genotypes, these differences were statistically non-significant. It can be concluded that the riverine buffaloes are sufficiently polymorphic with respect to serum lysozyme gene. The absence of AA genotype in Bhadawari breed of buffalo can be considered as a marker for breed characterization. The difference of four nucleotides in exon-3 indicates high selection pressure on the gene.