Association analysis of the INHA gene with litter size in Boer goats

This study investigated the association between differences in litter size in Boer does, with genetic polymorphisms in the inhibin alpha gene. Our preliminary (n = 209) results found 12 SNPs, including the non-synonymous polymorphisms 911T/C and 946A/C, resulting in corresponding 299V/A and 311T/P amino acid polymorphisms. Of the SNPs, 651A/G was preliminarily suggested as a useful marker for litter size of the second parity in the population studied, showing an overdominance effect. Polymorphisms, sequence, and genotype distributions were also characterized.