Survey of mutations in prolificacy genes in Santa Ines and Morada Nova sheep

Abstract

Polymorphisms in the BMP-15 gene related to Galway (FecX G ) and Inverdale (FecX I ) and in the BMPR-1B gene known as Booroola (FecB) mutations were investigated using the Polymerase Chain Reaction -Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method, on sheep from the breeds Santa Inês (n= 574) and Morada Nova (n=282). DNA was extracted and amplified through PCR with specific primers that introduced a restriction site in association with the mutation. The PCR products were submitted to endonucleases. The experiment found no FecX G and FecX I mutations. Six samples of animals with multiple offspring/birth history presented polymorphism for FecB similar to control samples, but this pattern was not confirmed by nucleotide sequencing. Although the absence of these mutations in the studied breeds, other factors related to prolificacy should be investigated to explain the inherent prolificity mechanisms.

Appearances of Local Prolific Ewes in Semarang Regency Central Java Indonesia

“…Garole and Kendra sheep are very productive because their FecB gene is used to convert non-prolific sheep to prolific by backcrossing for six generations (Tunji et al, 2010;Sagar et al, 2017). The prolific characters of sheep are determined by many types of genes, i.e., BMP15 (Wang et al, 2011;Kaczor, 2017) and genes that have not undergone mutations, i.e., FecXG and FecXI (Holanda et al, 2017). The prolific traits of sheep in Indonesia come from the gene mutation of Javanese sheep, that are inherited to their offspring (Davis et al, 2002).…”