Malays. Appl. Biol. (2017) 46(2): 41-48
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE PROLIFICACY OF ROMANOV
SHEEP BREED AND FECUNDITY GENE, GROWTH
DIFFERENTIATION FACTOR 9 GENE AND
PROLACTIN GENE GENOTYPES
KHALEEL I.Z. JAWASREH1*, ROLA JADALLAH2 and AL-MASSAD, M.M.3
1Department of Animal Production, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan
2Department of Biology & Biotechnology, Arab American University, Jenin, Palestine
3Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Jerash University, Jordan
*Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Accepted 13 October 2017, Published online 27 June 2017
ABSTRACT
Prolificacy data of Romanov sheep breed were retrieved from Sekhra Station (Jordan) through five parities. The data were used for studying the effect of Fecundity (FecB), Growth Differentiation Factor 9 (GDF9) and Prolactin genes on the prolificacy of Romanov ewes. GDF9, FecB and Prolactin genes genotypes were investigated in Romanov ewes by using the PCRRFLP technique. The Mixed Model of SAS software was used for analyzing the data. The different gene genotypes and the parity were inserted in the Model as fixed effects while the dams were inserted as Random. Fecundity gene was observed to be monomorphic, the wild type genotype of Fecundity gene was found in the Romanov ewes. Prolactin and GDF9 genes were observed to be polymorphic in Romanov. The results revealed non-significant differences in the prolificacy of the ewes that carry AA and BB of Prolactin gene genotypes. The GDF9 gene genotypes showed significant (P<0.0001) differences in prolificacy. The homozygous MM genotype ewes produced 0.792 more lambs born per lambing than the heterozygous NM genotype. Selection based on GDF9 mutation may help in improving the prolificacy of Romanov sheep.
Key words: Romanov Sheep, fecundity, gene association
