Single-nucleotide Polymorphism Scanning of Bone Morphogenetic Protein Receptor Gene and its Correlation with the Prolificacy of Plateau Tibetan Sheep

Background: It is not clear whether there are other motifs on the BMPIR gene in plateau-type Tibetan sheep and whether there is a strong association between the mutant locus and reproductive performance. Methods: Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the BMPRIB gene in the Tibetan sheep populations from the Qinghai pastoral area in China were detected by Sanger sequencing and performed correlation analysis with litter size. Result: Four SNPs (g.597 G greater than A, g.746 A greater than G, g.864 C greater than T and g.1113 C greater than A) of BMPRIB gene were firstly screened in Tibetan sheep. In loci g.746, relevance analysis discovered that genotypes GG and AG had 0.70 (P less than 0.05) and 0.79 (P less than 0.05) litter sizes more than the genotype AA in Tibetan sheep, respectively. In loci g.597, Tibetan sheep with genotypes AA and GA had 0.21 (P less than 0.05) and 0.31 (P less than 0.05) litter sizes more than the genotype GG, respectively. The results showed that g.746 A greater than G and g. 597 G greater than A were regarded as assisted-markers in molecular. These findings provide ideas and insights into the reproductive performance of Tibetan sheep in China.