Heat stress proteins are important factors in protecting cells against environmental stress. The HSP70.1 gene is one of the most important members of the heat stress protein family, which is essential for life, production and reproduction. In this study, partial regions of HSP70.1 (3' and 5' untranslated regions (UTRs)) were sequenced in six cattle breeds. Blood samples of five native breeds, namely Yerli Kara (YK), Boz irk (BI), Yerli Guney Sarisi (YGS), Guney Dogu Anadolu Kirmizisi (GAK) and Dogu Anadolu Kirmizisi (DAK) were collected from their native regions and blood samples of the Holstein Friesian (Siyah Alaca (SA)) breed were collected from each of these regions. Totals of 249 and 206 animals were analysed for the HSP70.1-3' and 5' UTR regions, respectively. In the 3' UTR region, 13 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and one indel were found, whereas this region was found to be monomorphic among animals of the Holstein Friesian breed. In the 5' UTR region, 43 SNPs and three indels were revealed in all of the investigated breeds. On the other hand, a new C983T nucleotide substitution was identified in this region, and is thought to disrupt the Sp1-hsp70 promoter binding site. The 5' UTR region was also more variable in the Turkish native breeds than in the Holstein Friesian. This study is the first to investigate the 3' and 5' UTRs of the HSP70.1 gene in Turkish native breeds. The genetic structure of these gene regions in Turkish native cattle breeds was found to be quite different from those of other cattle breeds that had been studied in the past.
Üstüner et al. (Sun,) studied this question.