Association of GH gene polymorphism with semen parameters of boars

DNA was isolated from the peripheral blood of 173 boars in order to analyse the relationships between polymorphism of the growth hormone (GH) gene and semen characteristic traits. The frequency of allele occurrence for the GH/MspI was as follows: allele GHA - 0.79, allele GHB - 0.21. As far as the GH/HaeII polymorphism is concerned, the relevant frequency was 0.53 for the allele GHA and 0.47 for the allele GHB. The study showed that boars with GHBGHB genotype of both polymorphous loci of the GH gene produced ejaculates of larger volume, with higher percentage of normal spermatozoa and with higher number of insemination doses than GHAGHA and GHAGHB boars. Our current findings show that polymorphism of the GH/MspI and GH/HaeII influences reproductive performance traits of boars.