Wen Yuliang, Xiang Yuping, Zhang Runan, Liu Kai, Liu Yufang, Chu Mingxing
College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, China.
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
Front Vet Sci. 2025 Jul 10;12:1629162. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1629162. eCollection 2025.
Lambing number trait in sheep is a complex trait controlled by multiple genes, and low lambing number has a severe economic impact on the sheep industry. Previous studies have shown that Sparc/Osteonectin, cwcv, and kazal-like domain proteoglycan 1 (), A disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin-like repeats 1 (), heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (), and leukemia inhibitory factor receptor () are involved in mammalian reproduction. However, the effects of these genes on lambing number in sheep are still unclear. In this study, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci at the above four genes were genotyped in five sheep breeds (two single-born sheep breeds and three multiple-born sheep breeds with a total of 768 sheep) using the Sequenom MassARRAY SNP assay, and their associations with the lambing number in small-tailed Han sheep were analyzed. The results showed that a total of six SNP loci (c.1633A>G, c.1388T>C, c.1095G>A, c.1847A>G, c.2403A>G, and c.127T>C) were identified in the four genes, , and . All the above SNPs had three genotypes in five sheep breeds. The population genetic analysis of SNPs of the four genes and the association analysis with lambing number showed that the polymorphism information content of the five sheep breeds of small-tailed Han sheep, Hu sheep, Cele black sheep, Sunite sheep, and Bamei mutton sheep was between 0 and 0.37, and a few sheep breeds were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p>0.05). The c.127 T>C locus of the gene may be affected by natural or artificial selection in these sheep breeds. Additionally, the association analysis between the c.127 T>C locus of gene and the lambing number of small-tailed Han sheep showed that the c.127 T>C locus of the gene was significantly associated with the lambing number of the second, third, and average parity of smalltailed Han sheep ( < 0.05). The lambing number of ewes with the CC genotype was significantly lower than that with the TT and CT genotypes ( < 0.05). The protein interaction network was also predicted and found to interact with the reported ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), cardiotrophinlike cytokine factor 1 (CLCF1), interleukin 6 cytokine family signal transducer (IL6ST), and ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor (CNTFR) proteins. In conclusion, the c.127 T>C locus of gene can be used as a candidate genetic molecular marker to increase lambing numbers in polytocous sheep.
绵羊的产羔数性状是一个受多基因控制的复杂性状，低产羔数对绵羊产业具有严重的经济影响。先前的研究表明，富含半胱氨酸的酸性分泌蛋白/骨连接蛋白（SPARC/Osteonectin）、富含半胱氨酸（CWC）和Kazal样结构域蛋白聚糖1（SPOCK1）、具有血小板反应蛋白样重复序列的解整合素和金属蛋白酶1（ADAMTS1）、肝素结合表皮生长因子样生长因子（HB-EGF）以及白血病抑制因子受体（LIFR）参与哺乳动物繁殖。然而，这些基因对绵羊产羔数的影响仍不清楚。在本研究中，使用Sequenom MassARRAY SNP检测技术对五个绵羊品种（两个单羔绵羊品种和三个多羔绵羊品种，共768只绵羊）的上述四个基因的单核苷酸多态性（SNP）位点进行基因分型，并分析它们与小尾寒羊产羔数的关联。结果表明，在SPOCK1、ADAMTS1、HB-EGF和LIFR这四个基因中总共鉴定出六个SNP位点（c.1633A>G、c.1388T>C、c.1095G>A、c.1847A>G、c.2403A>G和c.127T>C）。上述所有SNP在五个绵羊品种中均有三种基因型。对这四个基因的SNP进行群体遗传分析以及与产羔数的关联分析表明，小尾寒羊、湖羊、策勒黑羊、苏尼特羊和巴美肉羊这五个绵羊品种的多态信息含量在0至0.37之间，少数绵羊品种处于哈迪-温伯格平衡状态（p>0.05）。SPOCK1基因的c.127 T>C位点在这些绵羊品种中可能受到自然或人工选择的影响。此外，表示SPOCK1基因的c.127 T>C位点与小尾寒羊产羔数的关联分析表明，SPOCK1基因的c.127 T>C位点与小尾寒羊第二胎、第三胎及平均产羔数显著相关（p<0.05）。CC基因型母羊的产羔数显著低于TT和CT基因型母羊（p<0.05）。还预测了SPOCK1蛋白相互作用网络，发现其与已报道的睫状神经营养因子（CNTF）、心肌营养素样细胞因子1（CLCF1）、白细胞介素6细胞因子家族信号转导子（IL6ST）以及睫状神经营养因子受体（CNTFR）蛋白相互作用。总之，SPOCK1基因的c.127 T>C位点可作为增加多胎绵羊产羔数的候选遗传分子标记。
