Bi Yi, Wang Zhiying, Wang Qian, Liu Hongfei, Guo Zhengang, Pan Chuanying, Chen Hong, Zhu Haijing, Wu Lian, Lan Xianyong
College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China.
State Key Laboratory of Livestock Biology, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Jun 15;12(12):1547. doi: 10.3390/ani12121547.
The Booroola fecundity (FecB) gene is a major fertility-related gene first identified in Booroola sheep. Numerous studies have investigated whether the FecB gene is a major fecundity gene in goats or whether there are other genes that play a critical role in goat fertility. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to the role of the FecB gene in the body morphometric traits of goats, despite the positive relationship discerned between litter size and growth. We identified five copy number variations (CNVs) within the FecB gene in 641 goats, including 318 Shaanbei white cashmere (SBWC) goats, 203 Guizhou Heima (GZHM) goats, and 120 Nubian goats, which exhibited different distributions among these populations. Our results revealed that these five CNVs were significantly associated with goat morphometric traits (p < 0.05). The normal type of CNV3 was the dominant type and displayed superior phenotypes in both litter size and morphometric traits, making it an effective marker for goat breeding. Consequently, LD blocks in the region of 10 Mb upstream and downstream from FecB and potential transcription factors (TFs) that could bind with the CNVs were analyzed via bioinformatics. Although no significant LD block was detected, our results illustrated that these CNVs could bind to growth-related TFs and indirectly affect the growth development of the goats. We identified potential markers to promote litter size and growth, and we offer a theoretical foundation for further breeding work.
波隆那多产仔数（FecB）基因是最初在波隆那绵羊中发现的一个与繁殖力密切相关的主要基因。众多研究探讨了FecB基因是否为山羊的主要繁殖力基因，或者是否存在其他对山羊繁殖力起关键作用的基因。然而，尽管已发现产仔数与生长之间存在正相关关系，但FecB基因在山羊身体形态特征方面的作用却很少受到关注。我们在641只山羊中鉴定出FecB基因内的5个拷贝数变异（CNV），其中包括318只陕北白绒山羊（SBWC）、203只贵州黑马山羊（GZHM）和120只努比亚山羊，这些CNV在这些群体中呈现出不同的分布。我们的结果表明，这5个CNV与山羊的形态特征显著相关（p < 0.05）。正常类型的CNV3是优势类型，在产仔数和形态特征方面均表现出优良的表型，使其成为山羊育种的有效标记。因此，通过生物信息学分析了FecB上下游10 Mb区域内的连锁不平衡（LD）块以及可能与这些CNV结合的潜在转录因子（TF）。尽管未检测到显著的LD块，但我们的结果表明，这些CNV可与生长相关的TF结合，并间接影响山羊的生长发育。我们鉴定出了促进产仔数和生长的潜在标记，为进一步的育种工作提供了理论基础。
