{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T06:58:53Z","timestamp":1781765933092,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,12]],"date-time":"2019-11-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1573516800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Key Technology Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China","award":["2015BAD03B05"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2015BAD03B05"]}]},{"name":"China Agriculture Research System","award":["CARS-38"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CARS-38"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100018621","name":"Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["IRT13019"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IRT13019"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100018621","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hu sheep and Small-tailed Han sheep are the most widely raised and most famous maternal sheep breeds in China, which are known for precocious puberty, perennial oestrus and high fecundity (1\u20136 lambs each parity). Therefore, it is crucial to increase litter size of these two breeds for intensive sheep industry. The objective of this study was to identify potential genetic markers linked with sheep litter size located at ten genes. This study collected blood sample of 537 Hu sheep and 420 Small-tailed Han sheep with litter size of first parity. The average litter sizes in Hu sheep and Small-tailed Han sheep were 2.21 and 1.93. DNA-pooling sequencing method was used for detecting the potential single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ten genes related to follicle development and female reproduction. SNPscan\u00ae was used for individually genotyping. As a result, a total of 78 putative SNPs in nine out of ten candidate genes (except NOG) were identified. In total, 50 SNPs were successfully genotyped in Hu sheep and Small-tailed Han sheep. After quality control, a total of 42 SNPs in Hu sheep and 44 SNPs in Small-tailed Han sheep were finally used for further analysis. Association analysis revealed that nine SNPs within six genes (KIT: g.70199073A&gt;G, KITLG: g.124520653G&gt;C, ADAMTS1: g.127753565T&gt;C, ADAMTS1: g.127754640G&gt;T, NCOA1: g.31928165C&gt;T, NCOA1: g.32140565G&gt;A, LIFR: g.35862868C&gt;T, LIFR: g.35862947G&gt;T and NGF: g.91795933T&gt;C) were significantly associated with litter size in Hu sheep or Small-tailed Han sheep. A combined haplotypes analysis of the two loci (LIFR: g.35862868C&gt;T and LIFR: g.35862947G&gt;T) revealed that H2H3 (CTTT) combined haplotypes had the largest litter size than the rest combined haplotypes and more than those with either mutation alone in Small-tailed Han sheep. Taken together, our study suggests that nine significant SNPs in six genes can be served as useful genetic markers for MAS in sheep.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani9110958","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,13]],"date-time":"2019-11-13T09:11:27Z","timestamp":1573636287000},"page":"958","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":29,"title":["Association of Polymorphisms in Candidate Genes with the Litter Size in Two Sheep Breeds"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Zehu","family":"Yuan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Engineering Research Center of Grassland Industry, Ministry of Education, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Junxia","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China"},{"name":"College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xi\u2019ning 810016, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wanhong","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Engineering Research Center of Grassland Industry, Ministry of Education, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Weimin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fadi","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Engineering Research Center of Grassland Industry, Ministry of Education, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China"},{"name":"Engineering Laboratory of Sheep Breeding and Reproduction Biotechnology in Gansu Province, Minqin 733300, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiangpeng","family":"Yue","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Engineering Research Center of Grassland Industry, Ministry of Education, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1016\/0301-6226(85)90075-2","article-title":"The physiological basis for variation in ovulation rate and litter size in sheep: A review","volume":"13","author":"Haresign","year":"1985","journal-title":"Livest. 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