Polymorphism of Prolactin Promoter Region and it's Association with Economic Traits in Iranian Native Fowls

The objective of present study was to determine the polymorphism of prolactin promoter region and its association with age at sexual maturity, weight at sexual maturity, average egg weight at 28th, 30th and 32nd weeks and the number of eggs during the first 12 weeks of laying period (EN) in Iranian native fowls. Blood samples were collected from 159 pedigreed native fowls of Yazd breeding center and the DNA of blood samples were extracted according to salting out protocol. Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism were used to identify different genotypes of prolactin gene. The effect of prolactin genotypes on economic traits was analyzed using general linear model. A 24-bp indel (insertion or deletion) at the site of -358 was identified. Based on present results, the frequency of I and D alleles were 0.761 and 0.239, respectively. Frequencies of II, ID and DD genotypes were 0.566, 0.390 and 0.044, respectively. Genotypes II and ID were significantly associated with incresased EN (P<0.01). Nevertheless, genotypes of the 24-bp indel were not significantly associated with BW8, BW12, ASM, WSM and MEW (P> 0.05).