Authors : Yuqin Wang, Zhang Xiaohui and Chu Mingxing
Abstract: The Henan Dairy goat is a prolific goat breed in China. The exons 2 of growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) gene in three randomly selected does of Henan Dairy goat, Yaoshan goat and Taihang Black goat were amplified and analyzed. The SNPs (T1189C (Val397Ile) and T3615C (Val240Ala) in exon 2) were detected in three goat breeds with different prolificacy, in which T3615C was a new SNP in goats. The product amplified by primers P1 and P2 displayed polymorphisms. For primer P1, three genotypes (GG, GA and AA) were detected in Henan Dairy goats and Yaoshan goats, two genotypes (GG and GA) were found in Taihang Black goat goats and one mutation (1189T→C) was found by sequencfing in GA genotype. The differences of Least Squares Mean (LSM) for litter size between genotypes GG, GA and AA were significant (p<0.05) in Henan Dairy goat and non-significant (p>0.05) in Taihang Black goat. For primer P2, two genotypes (GG and GA) were detected in three goat breeds and one mutation (3615T→C) was found by sequencing. The differences of LSM for litter size between genotypes GG and GA were significant (p<0.05) in Henan Dairy goats. These results preliminarily showed that the detected loci of the GDF9 gene maybe a major gene that influences prolificacy of Henan Dairy goats.
Yuqin Wang, Zhang Xiaohui and Chu Mingxing, 2013. Polymorphisms of Caprine GDF9 Gene and Their Association with Litter Size in Henan Dairy Goat. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 12: 1590-1596.