Study on relationship between microsatellite polymorphism and producing ability on litter size trait of Hu sheep in China

Abstract

Four microsatellite loci (OarAE101, BM1329, BM143 and OarHH55) linked to FecB gene on chromosome 6 and one microsatellite locus (OarHH55) on chromosome 4 were selected to study their correlation with litter size of Hu sheep breed. The results showed that the average polymorphism information content (PIC), heterozygosity (He) and effective allele number (Ne) were 0.7214, 0.7558 and 4.4094, respectively, and all 5 microsatellite loci reached high polymorphism (PIC > 0.5), and the five microsatellite loci can be used for genetic diversity evaluation in Hu sheep breed. The result of variance analysis showed that there were extreme significant differences among the different genotypes for the producing ability of litter size in OarAE101 locus and BM143 locus (P < 0.01), and OarHH35 locus (0.01 < P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference among the different genotypes for the producing ability of litter size in BM1329 and OarHH55 loci (P > 0.05). Choosing by combining producing ability and special gene (gene type) will play an great role in improving selecting accuracy and breeding progress, and it is a wonderful and new analyzed thought in repeatable characters with low heritability which is affected by measuring frequencies. And this study will have an important role in MAS (marker-assistant selection) and molecular breeding in Hu sheep in future.

Keywords: Hu sheep, microsatellite markers, litter size trait, producing ability of ewes