Lactate dehydrogenase β processed pseudogene in river buffalo and other mammalian species

In the present study a primer pair originally designed to amplify a DNA segment of the lactate dehydrogenase β (LDHβ) parent gene was tested in river buffalo. The primer pair amplified a 318 bp DNA segment. The DNA sequence of this segment was determined and compared with the mammalian whole genome sequences in Genbank database for human, cattle and mouse. Blast data analysis showed that the sequence of the buffalo amplified DNA segment aligns with LDHβ parent genes of cattle, mouse and human at four scattered sites representing the last 23 bases of exon 2, exon 3, exon 4 and the first three bases of exon 5. Results also revealed that the sequence of buffalo DNA segment is 98%, 88% and 85% similar to a DNA segment of LDHβ processed pseudogene (LDHβP) of cattle, mouse and humans, respectively. These findings indicate that the amplified DNA segment does not belong to LDHβ parent gene and that as in human, cattle and mouse, the river buffalo has an LDHβ pseudogene of the processed type.