Identification of polymorphism of FecX gene in indigenous sheep of Meghalaya

Abstract

Fecundity gene such as FecX, govern fertility and litter size in sheep. Selection of animals with the help of molecular markers through identification of polymorphism of fecundity genes is an impactful method of genetic improvement. The present study was carried out to identify the polymorphism of FecX gene in indigenous sheep of Meghalaya. Blood samples were collected from 50 randomly selected ewes from 2 districts of Meghalaya namely, East Khasi Hills and West Khasi Hills. Genomic DNA was extracted from the samples and PCR amplification of FecX gene with specific primer set was done. PCR product size of 141 bp was obtained. Further, digestion of the PCR product with restriction enzyme HinfI through PCR-RFLP technique was conducted to identify the variants in FecX gene. Upon digestion, 2 types of fragment pattern identified, arbitrarily designated as AA and AB genotype, where AA genotype yielded one fragment (141 bp) and AB genotype yielded 2 fragments (100 and 41 bp). Presence of polymorphism can be an important indicator for selection with the help of molecular markers.

Genetic diversity analysis of native sheep population of Eastern Indian Himalayas using microsatellite DNA markers

“…Indigenous sheep of Meghalaya are distributed mostly in East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, West Garo Hills and South West Garo Hills district. They are medium-sized animals with average adult body weight of 20.21±0.05 kg and mostly light brown in body coat colour, having good potential for mutton production and possess coarse wool type which can be utilized in the carpet weaving industry (Khanikar 2020). Indigenous sheep of Arunachal Pradesh are mainly found in Tawang and West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh which are at an altitude of 7,802 ft and 8,757 from the sea level, respectively.…”