Interspersed repeated element analysis of Camelus dromedarius lactoferrin gene

Lactoferrin (LF) is an iron-binding glycoprotein essential to the mammalian innate immune system. Its concentration varies significantly across species and lactation stages. Camel milk contains substantially higher levels of LF compared to bovine milk.

The Camelus dromedarius lactoferrin gene is structured in 17 exons and 16 introns. However, there is no available information on interspersed repeated elements, or retrotransposons. These elements are valuable genetic markers and offer insights into phylogenetic relationships, population structure, and evolutionary processes.

This study aims to identify and characterize interspersed repeated elements within the dromedary lactoferrin gene using the Repeat Masker bioinformatic tool.

A total of 20 elements were identified, including 6 SINEs, 11 LINEs, 1 LTR, and 2 hAT-Charlie/DNA elements. Short interspersed repeat elements were dispersed in introns 1, 13, and 15, while long interspersed elements spread over introns 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, and 16. hAT-Charlie/DNA elements were found in introns 2 and 16, while long terminal repeats were located in intron 12. A comparative analysis with the bovine lactoferrin gene revealed that the latter contains a higher number of interspersed repeated elements (33), 9 of which were SINEs and 18 of which were LINES, 2 long terminal repeats, and 4 hAT-Charlie/DNA. This variation may be due to potential differences in evolutionary history or regulatory mechanisms.