Reproductive performance and investigation of BMPR-IB and BMP-15 gene mutations in Greek Chios and Florina sheep breeds

摘要

The aim of this study was to investigate some reproductive traits and the Booroola FecB and Inverdale FecXImutations in the prolific Chios and non-prolific Florina Greek sheep breeds. In 25 ewes of each breed, oestrous behaviour, oestrous return, lambing percentage, ovulation rate, prolificacy and percentage of still-born lambs were monitored during 2 successive years. In addition DNA samples from these animals were screened by PCR-RFLP in order to investigate the presence of the FecB and the FecX1mutations of the BMPRIB and the BMP15 genes respectively. Both ovulation rate (2.37±1.01 vs 1.79±0.63, P<0.05) and litter size (1.93±0.76 vs 1.34±0.52, P<0.01) were higher in Chios than in Florina ewes. The molecular results indicated that none of the mutations was present in the two breeds. These PCR-RFLP tests were found to be a very useful tool for future breeding plans for increased fecundity by introgression of major genes into Greek sheep breeds