Genetic Polymorphism of the Lipoprotein Lipase Gene in Mallard (Anas plathyrhynchos) and Muscovy (Cairinamoschata) Ducks in Nigeria

Background: Duck is very high in protein and fat content, and could be required in Africa to meet the shortfall in animal protein; due to its potentials like high feed efficiency, early maturity, high disease resistance and adaptability among others. Aims: To identify polymorphic forms of exon 7 of Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL) gene in locally adapted Mallard and Muscovy duck breeds in Nigeria. Methodology: Case-control study with candidate gene approach could not be used due to monomorphic results obtained from gel electrophoresis analysis of the extracted DNAs from both breeds. Samples collection was carried out at some markets in Ogun State while the laboratory work was carried out at the Animal Science Laboratory of University of Ibadan between May and June, 2023. 80 ducks; 40 Mallard and 40 Muscovy ducks were used to carry out the study. Blood samples of 3 ml each, were collected from 80 ducks. Blood samples were collected through the jugular vein; of 40 mallard breed and 40 Muscovy breed. The DNA was extracted and amplified using exon 7 LPL gene primer and HinfI digestive enzyme. The products obtained from PCR-RFLP were analyzed with 2% agarose gel electrophoresis. Results: 33 of all the samples in both Mallard and Muscovy were amplified. The percentage of which was 37.50% for both breeds. While 18 of Mallard samples were amplified, 15 of Muscovy were amplified and their percentages were 22.50% and 18.75% respectively. Considering the percentage of each of the breeds that were amplified, Mallard percentage of amplified sample was 45% while that of Muscovy was 37.5%. Similar gel patterns was obtained in all amplified samples. Therefore, there was no polymorphism detected at exon 7 of LPL gene but instead the breeds were monomorphic. The result obtained could be due to fewer population of selected samples, non polymorphic of the gene at exon 7 and it may also be as a result of closeness in relationship due to proximity of birds sampled from one another. Conclusion: Further studies can be carried out using larger sample size or other restriction enzymes in order to validate the results obtained in this study, and provide insight into the variations within each breed and many other Nigerian locally adapted ducks at the LPL gene locus.