Cloning, Polymorphism and Tissue Expression of TAC3 Gene in Sheep.

TAC3 gene is related to the regulation of animal reproductive function. Here we tried to find out the association of the expression and polymorphism of TAC3 gene with the estrus of sheep. TAC3 expression in uterus and pituitary gland increased in estrus of Small Tail Han sheep and Tan sheep. The TAC3 expression level in uterus might relate with estrus of sheep. Two mutations of TAC3 were found in intron 1 (C327T) and exon 2 (G1803A) separately. Although there were significant differences of C327T/G1803A genotype distributions in five different sheep breeds, it did not relate with the year-round estrus. The relationship between these polymorphisms of TAC3 and the litter size of Small Tail Han sheep was not found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]