Simultaneous Presence of G1 and G4 Mutations in Growth Differentiation Factor 9 Gene of Iranian Sheep

The fecundity in sheep has been much interested for producers due to its economical importance. Growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) is an autosomal gene with over dominance effect for twosingle nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs), which resulted in sterility in homozygote mutant ewes and additive effect for three SNPs, without showing sterility event. In the present study, DNA was extracted from whole blood of 19 Iranian Afshari and 8 Shal sheep breeds. The extracted DNA was multiplied several folds for G1, G4 and G8 sites in GDF9 gene through polymerase chain reaction(PCR) technique and was sent for sequencing. Results showed that G1-GDF9 mutation (arginine to histidine shift) was detected in Afshari breed, while G4-GDF9 mutation (glutamic acid to lysine shift) was detected in both Afshari and Shal breeds. The observed SNPs were recorded with very low frequency (