Genetic polymorphisms of fecundity genes in Watish Sudanese desert sheep

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The Watish sheep is a strain of desert sheep of smaller size compared to other desert sheep ecotypes, and there is anecdotal evidence that it is endowed with high litter size. The present study was designed for screening for polymorphisms in the known fecundity genes (bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 1B A<G in exon 6, bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) (FecX(B), FecX(G), FecX(H), and FecX(I)) in exon2, growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) – G1 in exon1 and G8 in exon2 and PRLG<A in intron2) and their association with litter size in Watish. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study involved 156 Watish ewes of 2-6 years of age, along with data on litter size in the first, second, and third parity from Sinnar state and contiguous Blue Nile State. Genomic DNA was isolated and genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Allele and genotype frequencies were calculated by direct counting. Chi-square test for goodness of fit was performed for agreement with Hardy-Weinberg expectations and association testing. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that all individuals were non-carriers for the target mutations of FecB, BMP15 (FecX(B), FecX(H), and FecX(I)), and GDF9-G8. With regard to the GDF9-G1 gene, the genotypic frequencies were 0.07% (G+) and 0.93% (++), in FecX(G) gene they were 0.993% (++) and 0.006% (B+), in PRL gene 0.516(++), 0.347(B+), and 0.137(BB). The Chi-square test showed a non-significant association between ewe’s type of birth and the detected mutations genotypes. CONCLUSION: These results preliminarily indicated that GDF9-G1, BMP15 (FecX(G)), and PRL genes might have had some contribution for improving litter size in Watish Sudanese sheep. However, further studies using larger samples are needed to detect the effects of those mutations on Watish sheep litter size.