The objective of this study was to test the association of the variation in a 360 bp region in exon 2 of the ovine bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) gene with growth performance (birth weight, pre-weaning average daily gain, weaning weight, post-weaning average daily gain and marketing weight) and body conformational traits (height at withers, height at hips, body length, heart girth, thigh circumference, body mass index, skeletal muscle index, body index and relative body index) in 242 Barki lambs using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP). Two variants (A and B) and three genotypes (AA, AB and BB) were detected. The BMP4 genotype significantly affected (p < .05 or p < .01) post-weaning daily gain, marketing weight, height at hips, thigh circumference, body mass index and skeletal muscle index. The results provided valuable information indicating selection for the BMP4 genotype might increase growth and muscularity in Barki lambs.

中文翻译：

---

Barki羔羊生长性能和身体构象性状与BMP4基因变异的关系。

这项研究的目的是测试羊骨形态发生蛋白4（BMP4）基因第2外显子360 bp区域的变化与生长性能（出生体重，断奶前平均日增重，断奶体重，后断奶的242只Barki羔羊的平均断奶日平均体重和市场营销体重）和身体构象特征（肩高，臀高，身长，心围，大腿围，体重指数，骨骼肌指数，身体指数和相对身体指数）使用聚合酶链反应-单链构象多态性（PCR-SSCP）。检测到两个变体（A和B）和三个基因型（AA，AB和BB）。断奶后的日增重，行销体重，臀部的身高，大腿围，体重指数和骨骼肌指数显着影响了BMP4基因型（p <.05或p <.01）。