Abstract: To understand prolactin gene variation and its association with egg productivity of goose breeds, the polymorphism of goose prolactin gene and its distribution patterns in different goose breeds were investigated. Six goose breeds selected were Wanxi, Rhine, White Roman, Landaise, Yangzhou and Sichuan. DNA samples of all goose breeds were extracted from goose wings blood. The polymorphisms in the 5-untranslated region of prolactin gene were examined using BstYI enzyme digestion and their distribution patterns were analyzed in different goose breeds. The promoter efficiency of mutational gene was measured using luciferase reporter gene assays. The results showed that a mutation locus, G-10T, located at the bottom nucleotide 10th of the 5-untranslated region. The G allele frequencies of the six breeds listed above were 0.7857, 0.9778, 0.9493, 0.9054, 0.1479 and 0.2117, respectively. The goose breeds with higher T allele frequencies had higher egg productivity than that with higher G allele frequencies in the practice. The efficiency of promoter with G allele enhanced 26.14% (p<0.01) than that with T allele. The results suggest that the egg productivity of goose breeds may be associated with G-10T locus of prolactin gene. |