Analysis of major fecundity genes in autochthonous Laticauda and Bagnolese sheep breeds

Albarella, Sara; Ciotola, Francesca; Selvaggi, Maria; Dario, Cataldo; Licciardi, Stanislao; Scopino, Giuseppe; Frate, Deborah; Peretti, V.

doi:10.1016/j.smallrumres.2015.09.005

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The other GDF9 nucleotide sequence variations detected in this study (c.994G>A and c.978A>G) were also reported by Albarella et al. (2015), who illustrated that ewes carrying c.C994A had no association with lamb litter size. The current study was unable to establish an association between these variants and litter size.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Identification of polymorphisms in the oocyte‐derived growth differentiation growth factor 9 (GDF9) gene associated with litter size in New Zealand sheep (Ovis aries) breeds

Najafabadi

Khansefid

Mahmoud

et al. 2020

Reprod Domestic Animals

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Having the ability to control litter size is important for sheep farmers and breeders worldwide. However, making genetic gain in key livestock traits like reproductive performance needs typically a lot of time, and both the fecundity and fertility traits have a great economic importance. Attention has therefore turned to better understanding the genes that control reproductive performance. Of these genes, research has focussed on the growth differentiation growth factor 9 (GDF9) gene (GDF9). In this study, a PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) approach was used to investigate variation in this gene in separate groups of purebred Finnish Landrace sheep, Finnish Landrace × Texel-cross sheep and composite sheep of undefined breed background, but based on New Zealand Romney-type genetics. Three GDF9 variants (named A, B and C) were found, and upon DNA sequencing, the nucleotide substitutions c.978A>G, c.994G>A and c.1111G>A were revealed. The frequency of variant A (containing nucleotides c.978A, c.994G and c.1111G) in the Finnish Landrace, Finnish Landrace × Texel-cross and composite sheep was 0.86, 0.78 and 0.76, respectively. In these three sheep groups, the frequency of B (defined by the presence of nucleotides c.978G and c.994A) was 0.01, 0.03 and 0.23 and for C (containing c.1111A) was 0.13, 0.18 and 0.01, respectively. An animal model was used to estimate the additive effect of fertility data for Finnish Landrace × Texel-cross sheep and revealed an association between litter size and the c.1111G>A variation (p = .036), but this was not observed for the Finnish Landrace sheep (p = .27) or the composite sheep (p = .17). When all the sheep were analysed together, the presence of c.1111A was associated (p < .05) with increased litter size, when compared to ewes that had c.1111G. Litter size did not differ between sheep with and without c.994A in all three groups of sheep investigated. This study suggests that c.1111A could be a useful genetic marker for improving fecundity in New Zealand sheep breeds and that it could be introgressed into other breeds, but analysis of more sheep will be required to confirm the associations that have been observed here.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Identification of polymorphisms in the oocyte‐derived growth differentiation growth factor 9 (GDF9) gene associated with litter size in New Zealand sheep (Ovis aries) breeds

Najafabadi

Khansefid

Mahmoud

et al. 2020

Reprod Domestic Animals

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“…However, this mutation was a silent mutation, and similar to Zamani, Nadri et al. (), this association was attributed to possible linkage disequilibrium with other closely linked mutations (Albarella et al., ).…”

Section: Growth Differentiation Factormentioning

confidence: 53%

“…Albarella et al. () detected five new SNPs in GDF9 gene in autochthonous Laticauda and Bagnolese sheep breeds and one of these mutations (c.750G>A) was in association with litter size. However, this mutation was a silent mutation, and similar to Zamani, Nadri et al.…”

Section: Growth Differentiation Factormentioning

confidence: 99%

A review on prolificacy genes in sheep

Abdoli

Zamani

Mirhoseini

et al. 2016

Reprod Domestic Animals

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Ovulation rate and litter size are important reproduction traits in sheep and are of high economic value. Reproduction traits typically have low to medium heritabilities and do not exhibit a noticeable response to phenotypic selection. Therefore, inclusion of genetic information of the genes associated with reproductive ability could efficiently enhance the selection response. The most important major genes affecting prolificacy and their genetic diversities in different sheep breeds were reviewed. Different causative mutations with major effects on reproductive traits including ovulation rate and litter size have been found in various sheep breeds around the world. A general overview of the studies on main prolificacy genes showed that some alleles may express different phenotypic effects in different breeds, and thus, further studies on epistatic effects are necessary for more understanding of genetic control of reproductivity in sheep. Regarding the polygenic control of fertility traits, application of new high-throughput technologies to find new variants is essential for future studies. Moreover, genomewide association studies and genomic best linear unbiased predictions of breeding values are likely to be effective tools for genetic improvement of sheep reproductive performance traits.

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“…Such a linkage was recently speculated by Albarella et al (2015) for a silent G>A substitution they detected for the first time at position 750 of GDF9 in Bagnolese sheep. They observed a higher litter size in sheep with the genotype GG compared with AG (P <0.05).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Growth differentiation factor 9 gene variants in Sudanese desert sheep ecotypes

et al. 2016

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Certain variants in the growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) gene have major effects on the ovulation rate in sheep. The aim of this study was to analyse GDF9 variability in the Sudanese desert sheep ecotypes Ashgar, Dubasi and Watish, and to test identified variants for association with litter size. For this purpose, ewes of these ecotypes with litter size records for at least two litters were sampled. The complete GDF9 exon 2 was sequenced in a total of 28 ewes. An additional variant in exon 1 (c260G>A) was genotyped by restriction-length polymorphism analysis in 97 ewes. Differences in genotype and allele frequencies of polymorphic positions between two groups differing in litter size (only a single lamb versus more than a single lamb) were tested for significance using Fisher's exact test. GDF9 exon 2 variants c.477G>A and c.721G>A and exon 1 variant c.260G>A were found to be polymorphic in all three sheep ecotypes. Exon 2 variants c.471C>T and c.978 A>G were polymorphic in at least one ecotype. No significant associations were observed between allele and genotype frequencies of identified variants and litter size. This suggests that GDF9 variants influencing ovulation are absent in these Sudanese sheep ecotypes, and therefore cannot be used to increase litter size within this population of sheep. ______________________________________________________________________________________

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Analysis of major fecundity genes in autochthonous Laticauda and Bagnolese sheep breeds

Cited by 10 publications

References 24 publications

Identification of polymorphisms in the oocyte‐derived growth differentiation growth factor 9 (GDF9) gene associated with litter size in New Zealand sheep (Ovis aries) breeds

Identification of polymorphisms in the oocyte‐derived growth differentiation growth factor 9 (GDF9) gene associated with litter size in New Zealand sheep (Ovis aries) breeds

A review on prolificacy genes in sheep

Growth differentiation factor 9 gene variants in Sudanese desert sheep ecotypes

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