[Genetic polymorphisms of five microsatellite loci in Small Tail Han sheep]

Small Tail Han sheep is an excellent local sheep breed in China. Small Tail Han sheep had significant characteristics of high prolificacy. The lambing percentage averaged 260 percent in Small Tail Han sheep. The polymorphisms of 5 microsatellite loci OarAE101, BM1329, BMS2508, TGLA54 and TGLA68 which were closely linked to the fecundity genes FecB and FecXI in sheep were detected in 244 ewes of Small Tail Han sheep. The PCR amplified products of microsatellites were detected by non-denatured (natural) polyacry lamide gel electrophoresis. Allele frequency, polymorphism information content, gene homogeneity and heterozygosity for 5 microsatellite loci were calculated. The number of alleles for BM1329, OarAE101, TGLA54, TGLA68 and BMS2508 were 6, 9, 5, 2 and 6 in Small Tail Han sheep, respectively. The range of allele sizes for BM1329, OarAE101, TGLA54, TGLA68 and BMS2508 were 160 bp to 180 bp, 97 bp to 135 bp, 116 bp to 136 bp, 98 bp to 100 bp, and 93 bp to 115 bp, respectively. The alleles of the greatest frequency for BM1329, OarAE101, TGLA54 and BMS2508 were 164 bp, 97 bp, 134 bp and 99 bp, respectively. Polymorphism information content/gene homogeneity/heterozygosity for BM1329, OarAE101, TGLA54, TGLA68 and BMS2508 were 0.4481/0.4840/0.5160, 0.3516/0.6375/0.3625, 0.2528/0.7326/0.2674, 0.3733/0.5034/0.4966 and 0.5809/0.3581/0.6419 in Small Tail Han sheep, respectively. The results revealed the greatest genetic variation in BMS2508 and the lowest in TGLA54. These results could provide, basic molecular data for the research on the germplasm characteristics of Small Tail Han sheep.