Abstract
The detection of polymorphisms in genes that control livestock reproduction could be highly beneficial for identifying and enhancing economic traits. One of these genes is pentraxin 3 (PTX3), which affects the reproduction of sheep. Therefore, this study investigated whether the variability of the PTX3 gene was related to the litter size of Awassi and Hamdani ewes. A total of 200 ewes (130 Awassi and 70 Hamdani) were used for genomic DNA extraction. Polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify the sequence fragments of exons 1, 2, 3, and 4 from the PTX3 gene (Oar_v4.0; Chr 1, NC_056054.1), resulting in products of 254, 312, 302, and 253, respectively. Two genotypes, GG and GT, were identified for 302 bp amplicon. A novel mutation was discovered through sequence analysis in the GT genotype at position g.22645332G>T. The statistical analysis revealed a significant association between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP g.22645332G>T; Oar_v4.0; Chr 1, NC_056054.1) and litter size. The presence of the SNP g.22645332G>T (Oar_v4.0; Chr 1, NC_056054.1) genotype in ewes resulted in a significant difference compared to ewes with GG genotypes. The discrepancy became apparent in several aspects, including litter sizes, twinning rates, lambing rates, litter weight at birth, and days to lambing. There were fewer lambs born to ewes with the GG genotype than to ewes with the GT genotype. The variant SNP g.22645332G>T (Oar_v4.0; Chr 1, NC_056054.1) has positive effects on the litter size of Awassi and Hamdani sheep. The SNP g.22645332G>T (Oar_v4.0; Chr 1, NC_056054.1 has been associated with an increase in litter size and higher prolificacy in ewes.