Abstract

This study investigated the genetic variability of the interferon alpha (IFN-α) gene in dromedary camels, focusing on Mareecha breed and non-descriptive dromedary camels of Pakistan. Sequence analysis revealed polymorphisms at various loci, particularly at positions 842 and 1341. The Chi-Square test for SNP association yielded a p-value of 0.0001, indicating a statistically significant association between the SNP presence and infection status. In contrast, the permutation test for alignment scores resulted in a p-value of 0.292, suggesting that the observed alignment scores are not significantly different from random scores, indicating no significant alignment conservation beyond random expectation. Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analyses highlighted both conserved and divergent regions, indicating evolutionary pressures and functional constraints. Genetic variation analysis identified high variability, while Principal Component Analysis showed two distinct individuals out of nine and phylogenetic trees indicated diverse evolutionary lineages among the studied samples. Branch diversity metrics indicated substantial genetic diversity, underscoring the complexity and adaptability of the camel IFN-α gene. These findings provided an understanding into the IFN-α immune gene of studied camels of Pakistan, with potential implications for disease management and understanding zoonotic disease transmission. The present study may act as baseline for future studies on immunity genes.