Preliminary study on the relationship between sow maternal behav-iour during early lactation and polymorphism of PRLR gene

Abstract

PCR-RFLP technique was applied to analyze single nucleotide polymorphisms of PRLR gene in Minpig and Landrace to investigate the possible effect of PRLR gene on sow maternal behaviour. A Nae I-RFLP site was detected in the PRLP gene. The single nucleotide polymorphism, a T-->C transition at nucleotide 1,620 of the cDNA sequence, was a silent mutation. Least square analysis between the genotypes and the maternal behavioural traits showed that sows with genotype AB had a significantly higher frequency of lateral-lying-to- other-posture trait and percentage of sow-terminated nursing trait than sows with the AA and BB genotypes, although no significant differences were found in other behavioural traits. It is possible that allele A is the unfavorable allele for sow maternal behaviour.

mRNA expression of prolactin receptor in sheep pituitary and its effect on maternal behavior

“…Significant attention has focused on the potential use of the PRLR gene as a marker for reproductive performance in several mammalian species. Recently, it was reported that PRLR plays an essential role in the induction of the maternal behavior (Lucas et al, 1998;Kelly et al, 2001;Baran et al, 2002;Tomás et al, 2006;Cui et al, 2007;Chen et al, 2010). These results clearly establish PRLR as a regulator of maternal behavior.…”

Identification of SNPs within the PRLR gene and effects on maternal behavior in sheep

“…High amino acid variability within the intracellular domain of porcine PRLR has been reported in association with differences in the number of corpus lutea of sows, and the preweaning survivability of piglets (Tomás et al, 2006). The PCR-RFLP (polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism) technique was applied to analyze single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of PRLR exon 10 in Minipig and Landrace breeds, to investigate the possible effect of PRLR on sow maternal behavior (Cui et al, 2007). An NaeI-RFLP site was detected and three genotypes were identified.…”

“…Evidence for associations between gene and maternal behavior has been reported (Tanaka, 2002;Tomás et al, 2006;Nishimori et al, 2008;Mileva-Seitz et al, 2012;Avinun et al, 2012); these findings have advanced our understanding of the genetic influences on maternal behavior. It has been reported that PRLR plays an essential role in the induction of the maternal behavior (Lucas et al, 1998;Cui et al, 2007;Chen et al, 2010a). These results clearly establish PRLR as a regulator of maternal behavior.…”