Polymorphism of growth hormone gene and its association with body measurement traits in Boer goat does

Abstract

The study examined single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the growth hormone gene (GH1) in Boer goat does and their relationship with body measurement traits, namely bodyweight, body length, heart girth, rump height, rump width, ear length, cannon circumference, and head width. Seventy-six Boer goat does between the ages of 2 and 4 years were used as experimental animals. Polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing techniques were used to detect SNPs. Chi-square test was used to measure the genetic equilibrium and a general linear model was used for the marker-trait association analysis. The PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing results discovered one SNP (G505C) in the exon 5 of the candidate gene with two genotypes observed (AA and AB). The association analysis indicated that bodyweight was associated with the genotypes (P <0.01), but not with any of the morphometric traits. A chi-square analysis indicated that the genotypic frequencies were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The polymorphism discovered in this study is a putative marker that might assist farmers in improving their does’ bodyweight through marker-assisted selection.