Association of molecular polymorphism in exon 2 of Ovar-DRB1 gene with weight traits in Iranian Makuie sheep breed.

ASHRAFI, Fereshteh; MARDANI, Karim; HASHEMI, Ali; DARVISHZADEH, Reza; FARHADIAN, Mohammad

Exon 2 of the Ovar-DRB1 gene of 90 Makuie sheep was amplified and analyzed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism techniques. Ten alleles and 18 genotypes were identified. The frequencies of the genotypes were 0.317, 0.1585, 0.0121, 0.0365, 0.0121, 0.0243, 0.0243, 0.1097, 0.0121, 0.0487, 0.0121, 0.0365, 0.0365, 0.0487, 0.0121, 0.0121, 0.0487, and 0.0365 for AA, AB, AE, FF, AM, BO, EO, IO, OM, AP, BP, OP, PP, AQ, OQ, PQ, QQ, and AV, respectively. Allele frequencies were 0.4756, 0.0976, 0.0183, 0.0366, 0.0549, 0.0122, 0.1098, 0.0915, 0.0854, and 0.0183 for A, B, E, F, I, M, O, P, Q, and V, respectively. There was no significant (P ≥ 0.05) deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for this locus in Makuie sheep. Relationships between molecular polymorphism in the exon 2 region of Ovar-DRB1 and weight traits were investigated. The results showed that the AB genotype was associated with the average of daily weight gain at 9 months and 12 months (P ≤ 0.05). No correlation of exon 2 Ovar-DRB1 variants with birth weight and other studied traits was detected. We expect that this gene can act as a candidate gene for genetic improvement of some weight traits in sheep breeding programs.

IRAN; GENETIC polymorphisms; EXONS (Genetics); SHEEP breeding; WEIGHT gain; ALLELES

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, 2014, Vol 38, Issue 2, p126

1300-0128

Academic Journal

10.3906/vet-1305-46