The polymorphisms of bovine melanocortin-3 receptor pseudogene.

Mammalian melanocortin-3 receptor (MC3R) plays an important role in the central control of energy homeostasis, and several functional polymorphisms of mc3r have been detected. Interestingly, the bovine mc3r was a pseudogene, and its polymorphisms and function remain to be investigated. Single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) showed 5, 2 and 3 genotypes in fragment F1, F2 and F3 of mc3r in seven cattle breeds, respectively. All genotypes revealed novel sequences. Three SNPs 657G>T, 756C>T, 822T>C were detected in fragment F1, five SNPs 1091T>C, 1133T>C, 1144C>T, 1259T>C and 1319G>A were detected in fragment F2, and two SNPs 1687G>A, 1860C>T were detected in F3. The SNPs in fragment F1 and F2 were located at exon 2. The five SNPs in fragment F2 demonstrated a tight linkage disequilibrium status. Variation detected here might have an impact on the function of bovine mc3r pseudogene.