Influence of mutations in the FGF-5 gene on wool performance in sheep (review)

Abstract

The effect of mutations in the FGF-5 gene on the wool productivity of sheep is considered. The conservation and rational use of the sheep gene pool is a very pressing problem for the development of sheep breeding in modern conditions. Thanks to the widespread use of methods for searching for genome-wide associations, the list of candidate genes for sheep productivity indicators is annually replenished. After identifying a new candidate gene, further work is aimed at a detailed study of its polymorphism and the search for mutations associated with gene expression and economically beneficial animal traits. A promising candidate for the quality indicators of sheep's wool is the hair growth regulator gene FGF-5 (fibroblast growth factor 5). FGF-5 plays a vital role in regulating the hair growth cycle during the development of mammalian hair follicles and skeletal muscle development. Haiyu Zhao et al. conducted a study of FGF-5 gene variation in the SG and SGG sheep populations, according to which ten putative SNPs were identified in the FGF-5 gene, and only five of them could be genotyped (SNPs 1-5). These SNPs are intronic mutations located in the first intron of the ovine FGF-5 gene. It was found that the frequencies of homozygous wild alleles at SNP1, SNP2, SNP3 and SNP5 were higher than those of the mutant alleles, except at the SNP4 locus. This study suggests that the presence of polymorphisms in the FGF-5 gene may affect hair growth in sheep and that hair growth may be enhanced by altering the expression of the FGF5 gene.