Association of the Polymorphisms FecXR, FecGH, and FecGI and Non-Genetic Factors that Affect the Prolificacy of Colombian Creole Sheep

Objective: To determine the effect of the FecX^R, FecG^H and FecG^I genetic polymorphisms and other non-genetic effects on the natural prolificacy of Colombian creole hair sheep. Materials: The birth number of the mother, the date of service (season and year), the male used and the prolificacy of 50 OPC females were recorded. The FecX^R, FecG^H and FecG^I loci were genotyped with direct PCR and PCR-RFLP. The allelic and genotypic frequencies, the observed (Ho) and expected heterozygosity (He), the fixation index and the deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (EHW) were calculated. The polymorphisms and non-genetic factors were associated with prolificacy using the GLM procedure. Findings: The FecXR and FecGH loci were monomorphic without the mutated allele, which is why the association analysis with prolificacy was not carried out. The FecGI locus of the GDF9 gene was polymorphic with frequencies of G = 0.89 and A = 0.11. The homozygous AA genotype was not found, and the GG and GA genotypes had frequencies of 0.78 and 0.22, respectively. The Ho was greater than the He; this excess of heterozygotes was not significant and neither were the deviations of the EHW (p>0.05). The average prolificacy was 1.30 ± 0.30. The genotype in the FecGI locus did not significantly affect the prolificacy (p = 0.087) but did so more so in the heterozygotes. The non-genetic effects analyzed, such as the number of the mother’s birth, the season and year of conception, and the father, did not affect the natural prolificacy of the OPC (p> 0.05). Application: The FecG^I and FecG^H loci were monomorphic, and FecGI locus was polymorphic; however, the genetic variation and non-genetic factors were not associated with the prolificacy