Tissue-specific mRNA expression profles of GDF9, BMP15, and BMPR1B genes in prolific and non-prolific goat breeds

Abstract

The tissue-specific mRNA expression profles of GDF9, BMP15, and BMPR1B genes in goats were investigated. The mRNA expression of the genes was detected in prolific Jining Grey goats and non-prolific Liaoning Cashmere goats by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR. The results showed that GDF9 and BMPR1B were widely expressed in 20 tissues, while BMP15 gene was expressed exclusively in ovary and pituitary. The expression levels of GDF9 and BMPR1B genes were the highest in ovary. The expression level of BMP15 gene in the ovary of Jining Grey goat was 4.96-fold higher than that in Liaoning Cashmere goat (P < 0.05), but there were no differences (P > 0.05) in the expression level of GDF9 and BMPR1B genes. This is the first study to analyze the tissue expression pattern of GDF9, BMP15, and BMPR1B genes in goat, and the BMP15 might be a major gene for the prolificacy of Jining Grey goat.