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Polymorphism of the Prolactin Gene in Egyptian Duck Breeds
Authors: Nevien M. Sabry
Number of views: 159
In avian, the prolactin hormone triggers and regulates ovarian follicle development. This study aims to detect the
Prolactin (PRL) gene polymorphisms (exons 1and5) in four Egyptian duck breeds, namely Campbell, Moulard,
Muscovy, and Pekin using PCR-RFLP technique and sequence analysis. It also investigated the association of this
gene with egg production, egg weight, and body weight. The present results revealed that PRL gene exon 1 and part
of intron 1 showed two alleles A and B (polymorphic) in each of Campbell and Moulard, however, Muscovy and
Pekin had only one allele (monomorphic). The allele A was more dominant with frequencies of 0.70, 0.60, and 1.00,
compared to the allele B (0.30, 0.40, and 0.00) for Campbell, Moulard, and Muscovy, respectively. For Pekin, the
allele B only appeared with the frequency of 1.0. Ducks with the high frequency of allele A were superior at egg
weight, compared to others. Furthermore, for PRL gene exon 5, there were two alleles G and C (polymorphic) in
Campbell, Moulard, and Muscovy, however, Pekin had only one allele (monomorphic). The allele G was more
dominant (0.15, 0.74, 0.0, and 0.84) than the allele C (0.85, 0.26, 1.0, and 0.15) for Campbell, Moulard, Pekin, and
Muscovy, respectively. Ducks having a high frequency of allele C were superior at egg production. Furthermore,
there were many single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the sequences in all breeds. The utmost ones exist at the
restriction sites of XbaI enzyme for the amplified fragment, in the promotor, exon 1 and intron 1 (T378C in intron 1),
and DraI enzyme for that in exon 5 (A5871G in exon 5).