Analysis of the oviductal glycoprotein 1 polymorphisms and their effects on components of litter size in rabbits

The objective of this work was to study the effect of the oviductal glycoprotein 1 (OVGP1) genotype and mRNA expression on litter size and other fertility measures, as OVGP1 has positive effects on fertilization and early embryo development. We have analysed an F(2) cross of two lines of rabbits divergently selected for uterine capacity. The OVGP1 mRNA expression was analysed in both lines, but no differences were observed between them. The promoter region and mRNA were sequenced in the F(0) generation, and 17 polymorphic sites were found to co-segregate in three haplotypes (A, B and C). An association study was performed between several reproductive traits and a triallelic microsatellite identified in the promoter region as well as a non-synonymous SNP located in exon 11 [g.12944C>G (p.Arg468Gly)]. The alleles g.12944G and g.325(GT)(14)T(G)(5) of the B haplotype have a positive effect on the total number of kits born, number born alive, number of implanted embryos and foetal and prenatal embryo survival.