Association of Genetic Variation in Exon 1 and 3 of FSHB Gene with Litter Size in Baluchi Sheep

This research was conducted to find association of genetic variation in exon 1 and 3 of the follicle stimulating hormone beta (FSHB) subunit gene and litter size in Baluchi sheep. DNA was extracted using modified salting out method and polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify a fragment of 220 bp of exon 1 and a fragment of 427 bp of exon 3 along with a part of intron 2. Two methods of PCR-SSCP and DNA sequencing were used for identification the different genotypes, While no polymorphism was found for exon 3, the present study identified 3 novel nucleotide polymorphisms in exon 1 of ovine FSHB gene, resulted 7 banding patterns which significantly influenced total and average number of labs across all parties. Results also showed significant association (p<0.05) of polymorphism in exon 1 with litter size for parity 2 in a way that pattern E had the most phenotype (1.88) compared with pattern A as reference while the less phenotype was detected for pattern B. These results showed the potential usefulness of this gene in marker-assisted selection for sheep breeding.