There are many potential genes that are known to be related to meat production and that can be used for selection to improve meat quality and production include Calpain (CAPN1), Myostatin (MSTN), Calpastatin (CAST), Osteopontin (SPP1) and Thyroglobulin (TG). This study evaluated Zavot (n=60), Anatolian Black (n=59; AB), South Anatolian Red (n=53; SAR), Turkish Gray (n=60; TG) and East Anatolian Red (n=49; EAR) cattle breeds, with the primary goal of investigating DNA polymorphisms of the CAST,

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... G, SPP1, MSTN and CAPN1 genes. Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was employed to genotypes. Restriction enzymes revealed polymorphisms with 2 alleles and three genotypes of each CAST, TG, SPP1 and CAPN1 genes were determined in all breeds, while the MSTN locus was found to be monomorphic. Deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) was not observed in the five cattle breeds on SPP1 locus. Significant deviation was observed from HWE in the TG and AB breeds on TG locus. Except for the TG and SAR breeds, genotype frequencies were not consistent with the HWE on CAPN1 locus. Four breeds were found at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium except AB breed for CAST locus. Consequently, this study has shown that genetic polymorphisms do not exist in the MSTN gene but do exist in the remaining four genes that were examined in five Turkish native cattle breeds.