Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2021, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (7): 1831-1844.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2021.07.007

• ANIMAL GENETICS AND BREEDING • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Analysis of Correlation between Mitochondrial DNA Variation and Litter Size in Sheep

XIAO Fan1, ZHANG Liping1*, WU Jianping2, JIN Jipeng1, SUN Weibo1, ZHANG Xiaoyan1   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China;
    2. Animal Husbandry, Pasture and Green Agriculture Institute, Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730070, China
  • Received:2020-12-28 Online:2021-07-23 Published:2021-07-23

Abstract: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between mitochondrial DNA variation and litter size, and to find the molecular genetic markers affecting the reproductive perfor-mance of sheep, so as to provide a theoretical basis and method for the selection and breeding of sheep with high reproductive performance. Multiple Small tailed han sheep (XM), multiple Hu sheep (HM), twins Mongolian sheep (MT), singletons Mongolian sheep (MS), twins Oula sheep (OT), singletons Oula sheep (OS), twins Gansu alpine fine wool sheep (GT) and singletons Gansu alpine fine wool sheep (GS) all with a record of lambing were used as the research subjects. The mtDNA polymorphism was detected by PCR and sequencing, and the correlation analysis was conducted in combination with the litter size. The results showed that the genotype distribution between XM and HM was basically the similar at A1099T, T1112C, C13576T, T13837C and T13855C sites, and the genotype distribution between XM and MS, OT, OS, GT, GS were significantly different (P<0.05). There was significant difference in genotype distribution between MT and MS at T15668C site (P<0.05). There were significant differences in genotype distribution between OS and OT at T15445C, T15627C, T15657C, T15732C, G15977A, A16101G and C16429T sites (P<0.05). And there was significant difference in genotype distribution between GT and GS at A15923G site(P<0.05). The T15668C variable site significantly affected the litter size of Mongolian sheep (P<0.05). The variable sites of T15445C, T15627C, T15657C, T15732C, T15956C, G15977A and C16429T significantly affected the litter size of Oula sheep (P<0.05). Also, the A15923G site significantly affected the litter size of Gansu alpine fine wool sheep (P<0.05). What's more, Hap_2 (TTCTTACGC) and Hap_4 (TTTTTATGC) haplotypes also had certain effects on the litter size.

Key words: sheep, mitochondrial DNA, litter size

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