Identifying FecB genotypes in the muscle from sheep breeds indigenous to Xilingol, and establishment of a TaqMan real‐time PCR technique to distinguish FecB alleles

The muscle from Xilingol indigenous sheep breeds are famous in China, and the FecB genotype in this population remains uncharacterized. In this study, SNPs in the FecB locus were investigated by pyrosequencing, and an optimized PCR‐RFLP technique was generated to identify SNPs. In addition, an efficient technique for high‐throughput identification of SNPs in FecB was optimized using TaqMan real‐time PCR and breed‐conservative primers and SNP‐specific probes. By genotyping the FecB locus in the muscle of Xilingol indigenous sheep breeds using a novel TaqMan real‐time PCR assay, our study has generated the groundwork for the authentication of Xilingol mutton based on the specific gene and the prolificacy‐oriented breeding of Xilingol sheep using marker‐assisted selection strategies in the future.