BMPR-1B, BMP-15 and GDF-9 genes structure and their relationship with litter size in six sheep breeds reared in Egypt
Ahmed A. Saleh, M. H. Hammoud, Nasraa A. Dabour, E. S. E. Hafez, Mahmoud A. Sharaby
Abstract
Abstract Objective The aim of this work was to investigate three different mutations; Fec-B, FecX G , Fec-G H at three candidate genes; Bone morphogenetic protein receptor IB, Bone morphogenetic protein 15 and Growth Differentiation Factor 9, respectively, in six sheep breeds reared in Egypt namely; Rahmani, Barki, Rahmani X Barki cross, Awassi, Awassi X Suffolk cross, and Ossimi and their association with litter size. Results Genomic DNA of 132 sheep was investigated for the Fec-B, FecX G , and Fec-G H mutations by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformation Polymorphism and DNA sequencing. The results revealed that all breeds did not carry Fec-B mutation. On the other side, the mutations of FecX G , and Fec-G H were detected in Rahmani, and Rahmani X Barki cross which is associated with the high twinning rate/litter size of Rahmani (1.28) and Rahmani X Barki cross (1.22). While, the average litter size for other breeds had almost a constant values rate over six parities, ranging between 1.00 and 1.04.