Allelic variants of PRNP in 16 Chinese local sheep breeds.

Abstract

Here, polymorphisms of the ovine prion protein gene were analyzed in 486 Chinese sheep from 16 main local breeds. Polymorphisms R or H at codons 154 and four polymorphisms at codon 171 encoding Q, R, H, or K were identified. The A/V polymorphism at codon 136 was not observed, and all sheep were homozygous for A at this position. In addition, ten polymorphisms at codons 21, 101, 112, 127, 138, 141, 143, 146, 153 and 189 were detected. The predominant Q allele occurred at codon 171, with a high frequency of 88.68 %, implying a risk of scrapie in China.