Abstract
The objective of this study was to estimate heritability and genetic correlations of activin-A gene with litter size in Boer and Matou goat, two highly prolific meat goat breeds. The genetic polymorphisms of two exons of the gene were detected and selectively genotyped by both PCR-SSCP-sequencing approach and PCR-RFLP method in the total 380 ewes with litter size records. Our results showed the presence of genetic variations, which consisted of 12 nucleotides changes in the candidate gene. Three of twelve loci, -446C<T, 651A<G and 946A>C were found to be associated with litter size within the second parity in three populations studied. In Boer and Matou, we observed two mutation forms for several pair loci and linkage disequilibrium was found within the gene among two populations. Some genetic implications were gained through polymorphic comparison within the populations. For litter traits, the estimates of genetic and phenotypic correlations were positive and particularly high for genetic correlations. Therefore, we considered activin A as a positional candidate affecting litter size and evaluated their sequence for potential causative genetic variation.