BMPR-1B, BMP-15 and GDF-9 genes structure and their relationship with litter size in six sheep breeds reared in Egypt

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to investigate three different mutations; Fec-B, FecX(G), Fec-G(H) at three candidate genes; Bone morphogenetic protein receptor IB, Bone morphogenetic protein 15 and Growth Differentiation Factor 9, respectively, in six sheep breeds reared in Egypt namely; Rahmani, Barki, Rahmani X Barki cross, Awassi, Awassi X Suffolk cross, and Ossimi and their association with litter size. RESULTS: Genomic DNA of 132 sheep was investigated for the Fec-B, FecX(G), and Fec-G(H) mutations by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformation Polymorphism and DNA sequencing. The results revealed that all breeds did not carry Fec-B mutation. On the other side, the mutations of FecX(G), and Fec-G(H) were detected in Rahmani, and Rahmani X Barki cross which is associated with the high twinning rate/litter size of Rahmani (1.28) and Rahmani X Barki cross (1.22). While, the average litter size for other breeds had almost a constant values rate over six parities, ranging between 1.00 and 1.04.