Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSHβ) gene polymorphisms and associations with reproductive traits in Rex rabbits

Abstract Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) stimulates granulosa cell proliferation and controls the development and maturation of oocytes. In this study with Rex rabbit, there was exploration of the relationships between reproductive traits and SNPs and haplotypes of FSHβ , and tested whether FSHβ SNPs would segregate between two lines, using 70 females from the White line and 100 females from the Beaver line. Three SNPs (FSH2, FSH30, FSH31) in exon1 and exon3 of FSHβ were strongly associated with reproductive traits in the combined population. For FSH2, the GG variant was associated with greater ( P P P P P FSHβ gene is associated with reproductive traits in the Rex rabbit, therefore, the FSH2, FSH30 and FSH31 SNPs can be used as molecular markers in genetic selection of rabbits.