MOLECULAR-CLONING OF CDNA-ENCODING THE C-KIT RECEPTOR OF SHIBA GOATS AND A NOVEL ALANINE INSERTION SPECIFIC TO GOATS AND SHEEP IN THE KINASE INSERT REGION

The complete open reading frame (ORF) of the c-kit cDNA was cloned fro m a cerebellar cDNA library of the Shiba goat (Capra hircus var Shiba) with the dominant black-eyed white phenotype. The analysis of the ded uced amino acid sequence revealed the presence of a single amino acid insertion (alanine) in the kinase insert (KI) region. While the newly found alanine insertion is not correlated with the coat color phenotyp e of goats, it appears to be characteristic of the c-kif genes in goat s and sheep. Although the biological significance of the insert remain s to be investigated, its phylogenetically limited distribution will p rovide us with a useful and interesting tool to analyze the problems o f evolution of sheep and goats in bovidae.