Abstract：The epidermal growth factor receptor have been identified as a key players in female reproductive functions, the objectives of the present study were to identify the polyorphism of epidermal growth factor receptor gene(EGFR) and find the association between reproductive traits and the gene in goats. According to the Bos taurus EGFR gene sequence provided by The National Center for Biotechnology Information, we designed fourteen pairs of primers to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms of EGFR gene in Matou, Boer, Gulin Ma, Chuandong White, Dazu Black, Guizhou White, Jintang Black, Banjiao, Chengdu Ma, Nanjiang Brown of goats(Capra hircus) by PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism(SSCP). The result showed that the DNA fragments amplified by primer P3 and primer P13 had polymorphisms among primers P1~P14. For the fragments amplified by primer P3, three genotypes (AA, BB and AB) were detected in different goat breeds. The sequencing results revealed that the genotype BB had one point mutation (115837C→T) compared to AA genotype. The litter size with genotype AA and genotype AB had no significant difference in three breeds of goats (P>0.05), and goats with BB genotype rarely existed. For primer P13, three genotypes (GG, GH and HH) were detected in different goat breeds. The sequencing results revealed that the genotype HH had one point mutation (173015G→A) compared to GG genotype. The goats with genotype GH had significant higher litter size than those with genotype GG in Guizhou White and Chuandong White goat(P<0.05), but Gulin Ma didn't have polymorphisms of primer P13, and goats with HH genotype rarely existed. The results initially indicate that the EGFR gene may be either a major gene that influences the prolificacy in goats or a molecular marker linked with such a gene closely.
