Study of GDF9 Gene Polymorphisms and its Association with Twining Rate in Karakul Sheep Breed

Inroduction & One of the most important economic traits in sheep is twining. Genetic studies have identified a set of genes that affect twining with major effects called fertility genes. One of them is GDF9 gene that have been identifying on sheep chromosome 5. This study conducted to investigate the GDF9 gene polymorphism and its relationship with prolificacy trait in Karakul sheep breed.
Material and Blood samples and birth data collected from 100 Karakul sheep at the Karakul breeding station of Sarakhs-Iran. After DNA extraction one pair of specific primer selected to amplify a 1503 bp fragment of the gene and Rsa I enzyme was used to digest the amplified fragment. The results showed a mutation at GDF9 locus in Karakul sheep. The relationship between genotypes and twining rate investigated using SAS 9.1 software.
The results showed a significant relationship (P Therefore, the mutation in GDF9 gene is a useful mutation and fix it will increase twining rate and will ultimately increase revenue.