Effects of New Mutations in , , , , and Genes on Litter Size in Sheep.

Prolificacy is a crucial characteristic of livestock, particularly for species such as sheep that have many births. The objectives of this study were as follows: (1) to investigate the genetic diversity of the 13 new and 7 known variants in the , , , , and genes in Ujimqin (UM), the F1 population of Dorper × Ujimqin crossbred (DPU), the F1 population of Suffolk × Ujimqin crossbred (SFKU), Sonid sheep (SN), Tan sheep (Tan), Hu sheep (Hu), and Small-tailed Han sheep (STH) sheep breeds/populations; (2) to perform an association analysis of the above 20 variants with litter size in 325 UM, 304 DPU, and 66 SFKU sheep populations; (3) to compare the frequencies of the litter-size-related alleles of these 20 variants among 8 sheep breeds/populations (the above seven sheep breeds + Mongolia sheep breed). With the use of the Sequenom MassARRAYSNP assay technology, these 20 mutations were genotyped. The association analysis results showed that the c.746A>G () mutation in was significantly associated with the litter size of UM and DPU, the c.994A>G () in was significantly associated with the litter size of SFKU, and the c.31_33CTTinsdel () in was significantly associated with the litter size of UM. Our findings might provide valuable genetic markers for expanding sheep litter sizes.