Polymorphism of the BMP-15 locus in Romanov sheep in Western Siberia

Abstract

Currently, selective selection takes into account gene polymorphisms associated not only with multiple pregnancies (growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF-9), bone morphogenetic protein receptor (BMPR-IB), etc.) but also with milk parameters (β-lactoglobulin (β-lg), αS1-casein) and meat (myostatin (MSTN), calpastatin (CAST), calpain (CAPN1)) productivity. Thus, genes associated with the transforming growth factor began to be monitored to improve reproductive performance in sheep breeding: BMP-15, GDF-9, and BMPR-IB. Genetic markers related to animal reproduction are exciting, with several productive indicators and other evaluation criteria that have not been previously studied. Work on the relationship of animal gene inheritance with biochemical, haematological, environmental and zootechnical indicators is particularly relevant. In this paper, we consider genotypic variability in Romanov sheep for the BMP-15 gene locus, which belongs to the genes of the β-growth factor family. The distribution of genotypes in sheep of the Romanov breed in the conditions of Western Siberia was as follows: for ewes, the frequencies of genotypes WW–25%, WM–75, and MM–0%; for sheep - 0, 80 and 20%, respectively. All three genotypes (WW, WM, and MM) were identified in the studied sheep. The results differ from the data obtained in several other works on foreign sheep breeds (short-tailed sheep Khan, Awassi, Barki, Ossimi, Rahmani, etc.). It is interesting to study the BMP-15 locus further to establish its associations with biochemical and haematological parameters and the hormonal status of sheep.