Short variation of the sheep PDGFD gene is correlated with litter size.

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) family, exert plays a key role in embryonic development, cell proliferation, cell migration, angiogenesis and reproduction. Related studies about GWAS analyses have found that PDGFD significantly affected deposition of tail fat in sheep, but there are no studies on reproduction in animals. In this study, three breed of sheep were used to find insertion/deletion (indel) fragment polymorphism of PDGFD which including Australian white (AUW) sheep (Meat type, n = 932), Guiqian semi-fine wool (GSFW) sheep (wool type, n = 60) and East Friensian milk (EFM) sheep (dairy type, n = 60).

Insertion/deletion variants within the gene identified in reported genome-wide selective sweep analysis reveal a correlation with goat litter size.

Insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA-binding protein 2 (, also called ) plays an essential role in the development and maturation of germ cells and embryos and is a candidate gene for goat litter size, based on a previous genome-wide selective sweep analysis. In this study, the mRNA expression level of was found to be significantly higher in a single-lamb group than in a multi-lamb group. Insertions/deletions (indels) within the goat gene, including P4-Ins-13bp and P5-Del-12bp, were verified in 918 Shaanbei White Cashmere (SBWC) female goats.

Effect of indel variants within the sorting nexin 29 (SNX29) gene on growth traits of goats.

The sorting nexin 29 gene () is a well-known regulator of myocyte differentiation and proliferation. In this work, two indels (17-bp and 21-bp) were identified in the goat gene, and their effects on the growth traits of 1,759 Shaanbei white cashmere (SBWC) goats were analyzed. Both indels had three genotypes [homozygote wild type (II), heterozygote (ID), and homozygote mutation (DD)] and displayed medium genetic diversity (0.