The hairless (hr) gene in ovine species

A research project is in progress to investigate the genetic basis of the congenital alopecia in Valle del Belice sheep. Previous experimental data confirmed the genetic control of this anomaly as a Mendelian recessive trait. Hairless (hr) gene, which is often responsible of this disorder in man, mouse and rat, was chosen as candidate gene. This work refers the first results of the molecular study of the hr gene in sheep; in order to develop a rapid PCR based test for the identification of individuals carrying the allele responsible of congenital alopecia. The entire gene was successfully amplified by the long-PCR technique. Nested PCR was used to obtain several fragments of the gene. Until now, the exon II nucleotide sequencing did not reveal any differences between normal and hypotrichotic ewes. The sequencing of other nested PCR fragments are in progress to obtain the entire sequence of the gene and to identify polymorphisms correlated to the hr phenotype.