Polimorfismos no gene da osteopontina e suas associações com a fertilidade de búfalos na Amazônia

Abstract

Because the osteopontin gene can influence the fertility of water buffaloes, the aim of this work was to identify polymorphisms in this gene and associate them with fertility parameters of animals kept under extensive grazing. We used 306 male buffaloes older than 18 months, bred on two farms, one in the state of Amapá and the other in the state of Pará. We identified three SNP for the region amplified by the primer OS4 (5`UTR) and four SNP polymorphisms for the region amplified by the primer OS9 (exon 5 to exon 6). The polymorphisms were in positions 1478, 1513 and 1611 in the region amplified by OS4 and positions 6690, 6737, 6925 and 6952 in the region amplified by OS9. We calculated correlations with the traits scrotal circumference and volume and sperm motility, concentration and pathology. There were SNPs for all the traits studied at 5% significance: for circumference, SNP 6690; for volume, SNP 6737; for concentration, SNP 6690; for motility, SNP 6690; and for pathology, SNP 6690. Therefore, SNP 6690 was related to four traits. The AA genotype of SNP 6690 presented the highest averages for scrotal circumference, sperm concentration and motility and the lowest total number of pathologies. However, for the scrotal volume trait, the animals with the largest volume were correlated with the presence of the GG genotype of SNP 6737. This indicates that the osteopontin gene is important because it can have a substantial influence on the reproductive traits of male buffaloes.