Authors : Longteng Liu, Chunyang Jia, Zongsheng Zhao, Hongtao Li, Bin Jia, Shan Lin, Hugh Blair and Stephen Morris
Abstract: RXRG (Retinoic X Receptor-γ) gene was originally associated with fetal development and reproduction in human beings and animals. With the rapid development of genetics, more and more attention are being turned to RXRG gene mutation and its influence on litter size. RXRG gene as a new candidate gene was used to detect genetic variation and that change was associated with growth, reproduction, metabolism traits selection and breeding. The aim of this study was to detect RXRG gene mutation of the exon 1-3 and the mutation’s association with twinning traits in 313 sheeps and to calculate litter size, genotype frequency in Chinese Merino, Hu and Kazak sheep. In this study, the polymorphism of exon 1, exon 2, exon 10 of RXRG gene were analyzed by PCR-Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and association analysis showed that three genotypes of P2 fragment were significantly associated with twinning traits in the analyzed population (p = 0.031). Analysis of four groups of sheep showed that there was a predominant gene (Allele B) and those populations which carried that allele would have higher twinning rates and that may become a useful molecular instrument for predominant genotype-choosing of twinning trait. These results strongly suggest that polymorphisms of the RXRG gene could be a new choice for sheep breeding and genetics through Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS).
Longteng Liu, Chunyang Jia, Zongsheng Zhao, Hongtao Li, Bin Jia, Shan Lin, Hugh Blair and Stephen Morris, 2014. Identification of SNP Within the Sheep RXRG Gene and the Association Analysis with Twinning Trait. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 13: 385-389.