KIT Gene Polymorphisms of Debao Pony and Hazakh Horse

The horse coat color is an important basis for breed identification and individual identification.Horse KIT gene is located on the 3rd chromosome,and KIT gene mutations affect the horse coat color and its distribution.In this study,all 21 exons and part of the intronic regions in KIT gene were sequenced in 69 samples from Debao pony and Hazakh horse breeds.Five SNPs were found,one was in 5'-UTR region(g.91214TG);one in intron 20(g.171356CG);and the other three in exon 15,20 and 21(g.164297CT;g.170189CT;g.171471GA,p.Ala960Thr) respectively.Sixty-nine individuals were genotyped using PCR-RFLP method.Three genotypes(TT,CT and CC) were found in exon 15;three(TT,CT and CC) in exon 20 and two(GG and GA) in exon 21,with all of the wild type as the dominant genotype.Debao pony breed had richer KIT gene diversity than that of Hazakh breed.