Analysis of POU1F1 gene Ddel polymorphism in Chinese goats

As a member of the POU-domain family, the POU1F1 is a positive regulator for growth hormone, prolactin and thyroid-stimulating hormone beta, by binding to target DNA promoters as a dimer in mammals. This study described the polymorphisms at the goat POU1F1-Ddel locus and analyzed the distribution of alleles in 15 indigenous Chinese goat breeds. The PCR-RFLP analysis showed a predominance of the D1D1 genotype and the D-1 allele, with average frequencies of 0.550 and 0.790, respectively, irrespective of goat utility type. The D1D2 genotype was the second most frequent, with a mean frequency of 0.371. The distributions of genotypic and allelic frequencies at this locus were found to be significantly different among populations based on a Chi square test (P < 0.001), suggesting that the breed factor significantly affected the molecular genetic character of the POU1F1 gene. The genetic diversity analysis revealed that Chinese indigenous populations had a wide spectrum of genetic diversity at the goat POU1F1-Ddel locus. However, an ANOVA analysis revealed no significant differences in gene homozygosity, gene heterozygosity, effective allele numbers, or polymorphism information content among meat, dairy, and cashmere utility types (P > 0.05). This suggests that the goat utility types had no significant effect on the spectrum of genetic diversity.