W locus alleles of the KIT Gene in Turkish Van Cats and Their Association with Certain Phenotypes

Year 2022, Volume: 15 Issue: Özel Sayı, 206 - 214, 30.11.2022

Mevlut Arslan , Nazlı Kocaefe-özşen Mustafa İleri

https://doi.org/10.52976/vansaglik.1141256

Abstract

Objective: Turkish Van cat is special cat breed in the world. The most important characteristics of the Turkish Van cats are the white and silky fur, and different eyes color. W locus of KIT gene was found to be an important gene for the white fur. However, there is not enough information about W locus of Turkish Van cats. The aim of this study was to determine the genotypic distribution of W locus alleles in Turkish Van cats and association between alelles and certain phenotypes.
Material and Method: 48 Turkish Van cats bred in Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Van Cat Research and Application Center were selected for this study. DNA isolations were carried out from oral swaps and W locus genotyping of these cats was done by PCR. The Chi-square test was used to determine the association between the alleles and certain phenotypes.
Results: It was shown that 41.67%, 22.92%, 18.75% and 16.67% of cats carried W/W, W/w+, w+/w+and W/ws, respectively. Frequencies of W locus alleles were found to be 61.45%, 30.21%, 8.33% for W, w+, ws, respectively. An association between detected genotypes and the phenotypic characters including eye color, head spotting, and hair length, could not be established.
Conclusion: Turkish Van cats can carry white (W), white spotting (ws), and wild-type (w+) alleles in the W locus. No association between W locus alleles and eye color, head spotting, and fur length indicates other genetic variations should be addressed to understand genetical backround of the cats.

Keywords

Turkish Van cat, KIT gene, W locus, FERV1, association

Van Kedilerinde KIT Geninin W locus Allelleri ve Bazı Fenotiplerle İlişkileri

Abstract

Amaç: Van kedisi dünyada özel kedi ırkları arasıdadır. Van kedilerinin en önemli karakteristik özellikleri beyaz ve ipeksi tüyleri ve farklı göz renkleridir. KIT geninin W lokusu beyaz tüy için önemli bir gen olarak bulundu. Fakat, Van kedilerinin W lokusu hakkında yeterli bir bilgi bulunmamaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı Van kedilerinde W lokus allelerinin genotipik dağılımını ve belirli fenotipik özellikler ve alleller arasındaki ilişkiyi belirlemekti.
Materyal ve Metot: Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi Van Kedisi Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezinde Yetiştirilen 48 Van kedisi bu çalışma için seçildi. DNA izolasyonları ağız sürüntülerinden gerçekleştirildi ve bu kedilerin W lokus genotiplemesi PCR ile yapıldı. Ki-kare testi, alleller ve bellirli fenotipler arasında ilişkiyi belirlemek için yapıldı.
Bulgular: Kedilerin %41.67, %22.92, %18.75 ve %16.67’sinin sırasıyla W/W, W/w+, w+/w+ ve W/ws taşıdığıdı görüldü. W lokus allellerinin frenkansları W, w+, ws için sırasıyla %61.45%, 30.21 ve %8.33 olarak bulundu. Göz rengi, baş beneği ve tüy uzunluğunu içeren fenotipler ile belirlenen genotipler arasında bir ilişki saptanamadı.
Sonuç: Van kedileri W lokusda beyaz (W), beyaz beneklenme (ws) ve yabanıl tip (w+) alleleri taşıyabilir. W lokus allelleri ile göz rengi, baş beneği ve tüy uzunluğu arasında iliştkinin olmaması bu kedilerin genetik temelini anlamak için diğer genetik varyasyonlara yönlenilmesi gerektiğini işaret etmektedir.

Keywords

Anahtar kelimeler: Van kedisi, KIT geni, W lokus, FERV1, İlişki

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