Association of growth performance and body conformational traits with BMP4 gene variation in Barki lambs

The objective of this study was to test the association of the variation in a 360 bp region in exon 2 of the ovine bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) gene with growth performance (birth weight, pre-weaning average daily gain, weaning weight, post-weaning average daily gain and marketing weight) and body conformational traits (height at withers, height at hips, body length, heart girth, thigh circumference, body mass index, skeletal muscle index, body index and relative body index) in 242 Barki lambs using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP). Two variants (A and B) and three genotypes (AA, AB and BB) were detected. The BMP4 genotype significantly affected (p < .05 or p < .01) post-weaning daily gain, marketing weight, height at hips, thigh circumference, body mass index and skeletal muscle index. The results provided valuable information indicating selection for the BMP4 genotype might increase growth and muscularity in Barki lambs.