Vol. 7, Issue 4 (2018)

Author(s):
Mangalika Rout, Sumitra Panigrahi, Subhashree Pradhan, Abhilash Routray and Binaya ranjan Swain

Abstract:
Sheep farming is the major income source of the poor and especially of women in developing countries. So, the main aim of any animal breeder is to get maximum profit from sheep farming. This can be achieved by two basic tools i.e. selection and breeding. Sheep production efficiency is mainly conditioned by fertility. Fertility traits typically have low heritability and selection based on phenotype is often inefficient and slow. It is more effective to select breeding animals according to their genotype to improve fertility traits like ovulation rate and litter size in sheep. Number of candidate genes has been identified so far influencing fecundity. Different mutations in the growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) and the bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) genes cause an increase in the ovulation rate in sheep.