Booroola Gene (Fec B) Polymorphism and its Liaison with Litter Size in Indigenous Sheep Breeds of Telangana, India

Abstract

The present study was aimed to find out the presence of Fec B gene in Deccani and Nellore with its association to litter size. From forty ewes of each Nellore and Deccani breed, having variation in litter size, blood was collected and genomic DNA extraction was done. Animals were screened by PCR-RFLP method for the presence of Fec B gene. Digestion of the Fec B gene 190 base pair with Ava II restriction enzyme resulted in separation of non-carrier (++) 190 bp band (wild type) and heterozygous carrier (B+) 160+190bp indigenous sheep. Frequency of Fec B gene polymorphism distributions was different among these breeds. Among the forty Nellore sheep blood samples, there was only one ewe with (BB) homozygous (160bp) genotype, five ewes with (B/+) heterozygous (160+190bp) genotype and thirty four ewes with (+/+) homozygous (190bp) genotype in Fec B loci. There was only five ewes with (B/+) heterozygous (160+190bp) genotype and thirty five ewes with (+/+) homozygous (190bp) genotype in Fec B loci and none of the individuals carried homozygous genotype for the Fec B gene in Deccani sheep. The average litter size of ewes with the homozygous Fec B (BB) gene was 2.0, heterozygous Fec B (Bb) gene was 1.4 and 1.2, respectively in Nellore and Deccani breeds and others were 1.0 in respective genotypes of both breeds. The study revealed the presence of Fec B gene in indigenous sheep breeds of Telangana, India having good association with litter size in both the breeds.