Identification of the GDF9 mutation in two sheep breeds by using polymerase chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique

Abstract

A genetic mutation with major effects on the litter size in sheep was recently identified in the growth differentiation factor (GDF9) gene of the TGF-B super family (transforming growth factor). GDF9 gene has been localized to chromosome 5 in sheep. In order to evaluate the GDF9 gene polymorphism, blood samples were collected randomly from 42 Kordi sheep and 44 Arabic sheep from Kordestan and Khozestan provenance. Exon 1 from GDF9 gene was amplified to produce a 462 bp and exon 2 from GDF9 gene was amplified to produce a 139 bp fragment. The amplified fragment of Exon 1 was digested with Hin6I restriction enzyme and the amplified fragment of exon 2 was digested with DdeI restriction enzyme. Exon 1 revealed two alleles, (denoted A and B) and exon 2 revealed a single allele. In these populations for exon 1, AA and AB genotypes were observed. With attention to the role of a GDF9 in increasing ovulation rate, it seems that this gene can be used as a marker for increasing the twin rate.

Identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms in GDF9 gene associated with litter size in Garut sheep

“…On the other hand, SNPs g.60G>A, g.304G>A, and g.333G>A showed a higher frequency of allele G than al- lele A, and the GG genotype was predominant in the population. These results agreed with the findings reported by Ghaderi et al (2010) in Iranian sheep and Polley et al (2009) in Garole sheep; they reported that homozygous animals for the GDF9 mutation were predominant in both populations. In this study, we also analyzed the genotype distribution of the GDF9 gene using a chi-square test (χ 2 ).…”

“…He et al (2010) found one point mutation of the GDF9 gene in Chinese goats that is associated with ovulation rate. Many significant associations have been reported between GDF9 polymorphism and ovulation rate, prolificacy, and fertility in sheep (Hanrahan et al 2004;Ghaffari et al 2010;Ghaderi et al 2010;Souza et al 2014;Mullen and Hanrahan 2014;Khodabakhshzadeh et al 2016;Ahmad et al 2017). Moreover, current investigations in sheep, humans, and rodents show that the GDF9 and BMP15 genes can be regarded as important genes associated with prolificacy in mammals (Mc-Natty et al 2005).…”