Allele mining in prolactin receptor gene and its association with some economic traits in Egyptian goat breeds

Abstract

The objectives of the current study were to identify polymorphism in the prolactin receptor (PRLR) gene among three Egyptian goat breeds (Zaraibi, Damascus, and Barki) and to investigate the association between PRLR genotype, parity, season of kidding, and litter size factors with milk yield and reproductive traits of Zaraibi goats. One hundred and ninety blood samples were collected for DNA extraction, with 110 from Zaraibi, 40 from Barki, and 40 from Damascus breeds. Three genotypes, CC, CT and TT, for the prolactin receptor gene were identified in the 190 DNA samples using restriction fragment length polymorphism and were confirmed by direct sequencing technique. Milk yield during suckling and lactation periods in addition to age at first conception, gestation length, and litter size were determined in 110 Zaraibi goats. The Zaraibi goats recorded the highest heterozygosity (0.495) and the effective number of alleles (1.972). The g.62130C > T SNP showed a significant association (p < 0.01) with suckling, lactation, and total milk yield of Zaraibi goats with the highest values recorded at the third parity. Age at the first conception and gestation length traits were significantly influenced by the kidding season (p < 0.05) with younger age in autumn and shorter length in spring seasons. Milk yield during the suckling period was significantly (p < 0.01) higher in the case of triplets’ litter size. The current study showed that litter size and parity played an important role in the amount of Zaraibi goats’ milk yield. The g.62130C > T SNP of the PRLR gene may be a useful marker for assisted selection programs to improve goat milk yield during suckling and lactation periods with the heterozygous genotype CT recording the highest values.

Keywords:

• Goat
• prolactin receptor gene
• milk yield
• parity
• kidding season

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our great thanks to the goat breeders for helping the authors to collect blood samples and to evaluate the measured traits. All the authors of the manuscript thank and acknowledge their respective Institutes and Universities. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Ethical approval

All procedures conducted in studies involving animals were following the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted (Committee of Animal Care and Welfare, Benha University, Egypt) with an approval number: BUFVTM 30092022.

Author contributions

Amira M. Nowier: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, software, resources, visualization, validation, writing–review & editing; Hassan R. Darwish: investigation, methodology, visualization, review & editing; Sherif I. Ramadan: investigation, methodology, software, validation, writing–review & editing; Othman E. Othman: investigation, methodology, visualization, writing–review & editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.