Abstract
Objective: To determine the effect of the FecXR, FecGH and FecGI genetic polymorphisms and other non-genetic effects on the natural prolificacy of Colombian creole hair sheep. Materials: The birth number of the mother, the date of service (season and year), the male used and the prolificacy of 50 OPC females were recorded. The FecXR, FecGI and FecGH loci were genotyped with direct PCR and PCR-RFLP. The allelic and genotypic frequencies, the observed (Ho) and expected heterozygosity (He), the fixation index and the deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (EHW) were calculated. The polymorphisms and non-genetic factors were associated with prolificacy using the GLM procedure. Findings: The FecXR and FecGH loci were monomorphic without the mutated allele, which is why the association analysis with prolificacy was not carried out. The FecGI locus of the GDF9 gene was polymorphic with frequencies of G = 0.89 and A = 0.11. The homozygous AA genotype was not found, and the GG and GA genotypes had frequencies of 0.78 and 0.22, respectively. The Ho was greater than the He; this excess of heterozygotes was not significant and neither were the deviations of the EHW (p>0.05). The average prolificacy was 1.30 ± 0.30. The genotype in the FecGI locus did not significantly affect the prolificacy (p = 0.087) but did so more so in the heterozygotes. The non-genetic effects analyzed, such as the number of the mother’s birth, the season and year of conception, and the father, did not affect the natural prolificacy of the OPC (p> 0.05). Application: The FecGI and FecGH loci were monomorphic, and FecGI locus was polymorphic; however, the genetic variation and non-genetic factors were not associated with the prolificacy. Keywords: Bone Morphogenetic Protein-15 Gene, Growth Differentiation Factor-9 Gene, Reproduction
Highlights
Sheep brought during the conquest of the Americas provided the racial foundation for what is known as the creole sheep[1]
The FecXR allele has only been found in the Aragonese breed; it has been shown that the FecXR allele increases the ovulation rate by +0.63 ovules/sheep in heterozygous animals, which causes an increase in the prolificacy of 0.35 lambs/parturition[11]
The FecXR and FecGH polymorphisms were not found in the OPC
Summary
Sheep brought during the conquest of the Americas provided the racial foundation for what is known as the creole sheep[1]. In Colombia, there are two types of sheep: creole wool (CRL) and Colombian hair sheep (OPC)[2]. In Colombia, sheep production is considered a secondary livestock activity and is carried out in traditional and/or family systems with low input requirements and in mixed production systems with other species[3]. CRL and OPC sheep have important adaptive characteristics to the tropical climate, such as heat tolerance, ectoparasites and the ability to consume grasses with low nutritional value[4]. These production systems have problems with nutrition, reproduction, health, unorganized genetic improvement plans, inadequate facilities and poor business vision, which are reflected in the low production efficiency[5]. To increase the competitiveness of this sector, it is necessary to incorporate new technologies and/or management practices that generate competitive advantages with knowledgeable management systems that adapt to the conditions of primary production in developing countries such as Colombia[3,6]
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