Categories: Reproductive system phene

Mendelian trait/disorder: yes

Mode of inheritance: Autosomal

Disease-related: no

Key variant known: no

Inheritance: Juengel et al. (2011) reported the segregation of an autosomal gene of large effect on ovulation rate in the progeny of a single prolific ewe.

Markers: Juengel et al. (2015) investigated "if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the leptin receptor (LEPR) gene associated with delayed onset of puberty [Haldar et al. 2014 ] are associated with changes in other reproductive traits in adult ewes. ... The mutations in the LEPR (i.e. TT genotypes for either SNP) were associated with decreased reproductive performance in the Davisdale ewes." The authors conclude that "the effect of the LEPR mutation(s) observed, in which ovulation rate is suppressed but only in homozygous mutant animals, is inconsistent with the expected effect of the putative FECD locus, in which ovulation rate is increased in both heterozygous and homozygous animals. However, the effects of the mutation(s) in LEPR may account for the variability in the level of effects of FECD on ovulation rate, which varied between 0.4 and 0.8 additional ova released at each reproductive cycle (Juengel et al. 2011)."