Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Science - Department of Biotechnology

This thesis was carried out to study some genes that assumed to be linked to fertility and reproduction process in sheep. In the first part, 12 SNPs in 5 different Genes (BMPR-1B, GDF9, BMP15, KISS-1 and GPR54) were genotyped using the iPLEX Gold technology (SEQUENOM) in both Rahmani and Ossimi ewes. Only one mutation showed polymorphism, it is a 5 bp insertion / deletion (TTCTT) mutation at the 163{u2013}167 locus in 5{u00B4} regulatory region of the GPR54 gene. No association linkage was observed between this polymorphism and litter size as a phenotype. In the second part, two genes (KISS-1 and GPR54) were subjected for gene expression analysis using real time PCR technique in different ovarian cell compartments. The results showed that both KISS-1 and GPR54 genes were expressed in oocytes cells. However, the two genes were strongly expressed in bad quality oocytes while their expressions were down regulated in good quality oocytes. GPR54 gene was expressed in granulosa cells and corpus leuteum tissue while KISS-1 gene was neither detected in granulosa cells nor corpus leuteum tissue. The association analysis together with gene expression analysis could be used for better understanding of reproduction in sheep, with overall aim to improve reproductive performance of Egyptian sheep breeds

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