PCR-SSCP was used to analyze the polymorphism of leptin gene in 539 samples of six cattle breeds, namely Nanyang （NY）, Qinchuan （QC）, Jiaxianred （JXR）, Xizhen （XZ）, Luxi （LX）, and Holstein cow （HOL） breeds. PCR products with a 330 bp were amplified and sequenced. The results showed that the frequencies of alleles A/B of NY, QC, JXR, XZ, LX, and HOL breeds were 0.558/0.442, 0.492/0.508, 0.571/0.429, 0.658/0.342, 0.591/0.409, and 0.615/0.385, respectively. The association of variations of leptin gene with growth traits in NY, QC, JXR breeds was analyzed. Some indexes of the individuals with genotype BB were higher than that with genotype AA and AB in NY breed, such as the indexes of body length, heart length, body weight, hucklebone width, body height, and average day gain. The height at hip cross of the individuals with genotype BB was higher than that of those with genotype AA and AB in QC breed （P 〈 0.05）. So leptin gene may be one of the candidate genes for growth traits with height at hip cross, but not for body weight, heart length, and body length trait. However, the height at hip cross and hucklebone width of the individuals with genotype AB and BB were higher than that of those with genotype AA in JXR breed （P 〈 0.05）, but the difference was not statistically significant in body weight and body sizes （body height, body length, and heart length）. And the polymorphisms in leptin gene were caused by G→T transversion at the 66th bp position, A→C transversion at the 67th bp position and G→T transversion at the 299th bp position. These results may be applied to marker-assisted selection of Chinese cattle breeds.
