Screening for S32G mutation of BMP15 gene in 18 goat breeds

Authors: TAO FENG, MING-XING CHU, GUI-LING CAO, DONG-WEI HUANG, RAN DI, QIU-YUE LIU, ZHANG-YUAN PAN, MEI JIN, YING-JIE ZHANG

Abstract: In our early work, one mutation (A898G, which caused Ser32Gly (S32G) change of mature peptide) was identified in the goat BMP15 gene and the allele G was associated with high litter size in Jining Grey goats (the goat breed with the highest fecundity in China). The aim of this research was to investigate the genetic structure of the prolific BMP15 gene in 18 goat breeds reared in China, including 12 native breeds, 3 introduced breeds, and 2 cultivated breeds. Genomic DNA of 1011 goats was screened for the S32G mutation. The results showed that this mutation existed in all 3 cultivated and 8 native goat breeds but in none of the 3 introduced goat breeds, which hinted that this mutation may originate from native goat breeds of China. Besides the Jining Grey goats, the BMP15 gene was also a potential prolificacy gene in Matou goats. Moreover, the structure prediction indicated that the S32G mutation might participate in the binding of BMP15 with receptors.

Keywords: Goat, prolificacy, bone morphogenetic protein 15 gene, functional analysis

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