Indian Journal of Animal Research

In present study, functional relevance of IL-15 with goat placenta was determined by quantitative real-time PCR (SYBR Green chemistry) and western blot. The 486 bp full-length coding sequence of the gene, encoding 162 amino acids, was cloned. Expression of IL-15 was significantly higher in placenta, especially in cotyledon, than that in other neonatal tissues (P<0.05). In both Dazu Black and Inner Mongolia Cashmere breeds, IL-15 mRNA in cotyledon was up-regulated at term compare to that at day 30 of gestation (P<0.05), and was significantly different between both breeds (P<0.05). Additionally, IL-15 transcripts had a close relationship with that of vascular endothelial growth factor and a positive correlation with placental efficiency (R²=0.922, P=0.04), but it was negatively correlated with cotyledon density (R²=0.952, P=0.024). The results indicate that IL-15 is conserved in goats, and has important role in placenta, thereby can be a candidate gene for placental efficiency in goats.