GENETIC SIGNATURE OF STRONG RECENT POSITIVE SELECTION AT FSH beta GENE IN GOATS

Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) is a glycoprotein hormone, secreted by gonadotrophs of the anterior pituitary gland. It regulates the development and functions of gonads and is essential for normal reproductive functions in mammals. Determination of selection is arising as one of the most significant steps in the investigation of multilocus population genetic. This study investigated outlier loci detection using a F-ST based technique and testing of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped in individuals of four goat breeds of China. The utilization of outlier detection approach using SNPs resulted in the identification of the FSH beta to be under selection. Nucleotide sequence of 10 species were also included to determine the evolutionary selection of FSH beta gene and the results showed that this gene previously was under purified selection but recently it is under positive selection. The nucleotide sequence of FSH beta gene of goats showed closer coding sequence similarity to FSH beta gene of ovine (55%) and equine (55%) than to that of cattle (54%), rabbit (49%) and human (48%). The outlier loci recognized in this study may be useful to elucidate adaptive variability in the studied species attributed by wide climate variation in their native areas and vigorous import/export which suggest their ability to adapt to a new environment. In conclusion, the FSH beta gene which was previously under purified evolutionary selection is now remarkably under strong positive selection.