Association of novel SNPs in gonadotropin genes with sperm quality traits of Boer goats and Boer crosses

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of caprine FSHβ and caprine LHβ genes and to determine effects of the SNPs on fresh and post-thaw semen quality traits of Boer and Boer-crossbred bucks. The single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and comparative sequencing revealed three SNPs in exon 3 of caprine follicle-stimulating hormone beta (FSHβ), including, three SNPs; 200A > G (FSHβ3-a), 226T > C (FSHβ3-b), and 237A > G (FSHβ3-c), while two of them (FSHβ3-a and FSHβ3-b) were novel. Furthermore, one SNP in exon 2 of luteinizing hormone beta (LHβ) (207T > C) (LHβ2) was detected. The associations of the four detected SNPs with quality traits of fresh and post-thaw semen were evaluated. Analyses of variance revealed significant association of the candidate genes with libido and semen quality traits. The three SNPs of FSHβ3 had significant effect on libido, progressive motility, and abnormality of fresh semen (P < .05), and on the motility, velocity, and viability traits of post-thaw semen (P < .05). LHβ2 polymorphism only showed association with sperm viability of post-thaw semen. The results of the present study suggest that the SNPs in caprine FSHβ and LHβ are associated with semen quality of male goats.