Differential expression of gene in Liaoning Cashmere goats with different coat colors.

Melanocyte stimulating hormone receptor () has been known as a regulator of eumelanin and phaeomelanin production in the melanocytes, and mutations causing coat color changes are known in many vertebrates; however, there are no research reports about the differentially expression of gene and its coding protein in Cashmere goats with different coat color. We examined the presence of distribution and protein and gene expression in the white Cashmere goats and black Cashmere goats, respectively; q-PCR, Western blot and immunhistochemical analysis showed that the expression of the gene in the black Cashmere goats was 3.39 fold more than the white ones ( < 0.01), and Cashmere goats with black genotype had significantly higher (2.03,  < 0.01) protein expression than white genotype in the all investigated samples. Moreover, all Cashmere goats with different coat color available for immunhistochemical analysis showed either lower (white Cashmere goats) or higher (black Cashmere goats) expression of the protein; these findings suggested that it had a relationship between the and the coat color of Cashmere goats. That could lay the foundation for the further research of the and coat color controllability regulation of the Cashmere goats.