genetic polymorphism of gdf9 gene in iranian moghani sheep breed

the families of tgf-β proteins are the most important growth factors in the ovary for growth and differentiation of early ovarian follicles. three related oocyte-derived members of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily namely growth differentiation factor 9 (gdf9), bmp15 and bmpr-ib have been shown to be essential for follicular growth and ovulation. different mutations in the gdf9 gene cause increased ovulation rate and infertility in a dosage-sensitive manner in sheep. in this study, blood samples were collected from 150 moghani sheep breed using venojects treated with the anti-clot substance (edta) and subsequently their dna content were salted out and extracted. the quantity and quality of extracted dna was examined using spectrophotometery and gel electrophoresis, respectively. with using a pair of specific primers, the dna fragment was amplified from exon 1 of gdf9 (462 bp). digested pcr products with hhai enzyme showed a g to a substiuation in gdf9 locus. the wild type allele of this gene (g/+) with two restriction site resulted dna fragments of 156, 52 and 254 bp while the mutant allele (g/-) with one restriction site resulted two dna fragments with the size of 52 and 410 bp. genotype frequencies for g (+/+), g (+/-) and g (-/-) were 0.66, 0.24 and 0.1, respectively. from studied luci, gdf9 was polymorphic in iranian moghani sheep breed.