Three novel SNPs were identified in the locus OAR292286, encoding the DNA sequence of promoter III of the ovine acetyl-CoA carboxylase-alpha gene, in Italian sheep of four breeds: Gentile di Puglia (25 individuals) and Sopravissana (31) which are triple-purpose local endangered breeds, Comisana (25) which is a local non-selected, non-endangered dairy breed and Sarda (15) which is a popular selected high yielding dairy breed. Variant alleles are: G/T at 1330 bp, C/G at 1338 bp and C/T at 1430 bp. Frequencies of the variant alleles were calculated and chi-squared analysis of the differences in allele frequency between breed pairs was performed. Allele frequencies of the Sarda breed differ significantly from the other considered breeds.