Effect of the GDF9 gene on the weight of lambs at birth

Maria Kolosova, Nekruz Bakoev, Yuri Kolosov, Aleksander Usatov, Siroj Bakoev, Nadezhda Shirokova, Lyubov Getmantseva, Varvara Shevtsova, Anatoly Kolosov

Abstract: The role of the GDF9 gene in the process of folliculogenesis, oocyte normal maturation and the development of the embryo promoted an investigation of its polymorphism and testing it as a genetic marker of farm animals’ reproductive indices. The purpose of this paper was to study the influence of the SNP effect of the GDF9 gene in point G1 (G260A) on the weight of lambs at birth in Volgograd sheep. The objects of research were 117 sheep of the Volgograd breed, Russia. The results of the first and second lambing were taken into account to determine the weight of lambs at birth. The analysis was carried out by PCR-RFLP method. A mixed linear model was used to quantify the effect of different genotypes of the GDF9 gene on the weight of lambs at birth. A set of factors included in the model was determined by using one-factorial (ANOVA) and multifactorial (MANOVA) variance analysis. The multifactorial variance analysis allowed establishing a high statistical significance of the SNP effect of the GDF9 gene on weight of lambs at birth. As a result, it was found that weight of lamb at birth in ewes of the AG genotype was 0.156 kg larger than in ewes of the GG genotype. Further studies aimed at studying the GDF9 gene in sheep of different breeds will allow revealing peculiar influence of different allelic variants on the productive qualities of sheep.

Keywords: GDF9; mixed linear model; sheep; SNP effect; weight of lamb at birth

Date published: 2019-02-20