In order to study the relationship between the CAST gene polymorphism and meat quality of 5 sheep breeds(Gansu alpine fine wool sheep, Small tail han sheep, Tibetan, Mongolian sheep and Tansheep which were fed in a typical farming mode of Gansu province) in Gansu Province at the molecular level and to explore the possibility of improving the quality of sheep meat by using CAST as a candidate gene, the polymorphism of intron 3 of CAST gene was detected by PCRSSCP in 5 sheep breeds, and the association between CAST gene polymorphism and meat quality in 9monthold sheep was analyzed. The results showed: compared with allele A,two mutations were detected which included G62T and C110T in allele B while only C92T was detected in allele C. The mutations formed AA, AB, BB and AC genotypes. Experimental results showed that 5 sheep breeds were in nonHardyWeinberg equilibrium state. Population genetic polymorphism analysis showed that the polymorphism information content (PIC) of the 5 sheep breeds was moderate. The association analysis showed that the water loss rate of AC genotype was significantly higher than those of others (P<005), the shear forcer of AC was significantly lower than those of other three genotypes (P<005). Genotype analysis of different sheep breeds showed that the water loss rate of AC genotype was significantly higher than other three genotypes (P<005) , and the shear stress of AC genotype was significantly lower than other genotypes(P<005) except Mongolia sheep. The mutation locus had no significant influence on eye muscle area. These associations showed CAST gene could be used as a candidate gene for markerassisted selection of sheep meat performance and meat quality.