| Summary: | Many studies focus on the identification of genomic regions that undergo selective processes, where evidence of selection is revealed and positional candidate genes are identified. The aim of the research was to evaluate the association between positional candidate genes, namely secreted phosphoprotein 1 (<i>SPP1</i>, sheep chromosome <i>Ovis aries</i> OAR6, 36.651–36.658 Mb), protein O-fucosyltransferase 1 (<i>POFUT1</i>, OAR13, 61.006–61.027 Mb) and prolactin receptor (<i>PRLR</i>, OAR16, 38.969–39.028 Mb) with milk yield, composition and coagulation traits. Eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) mapping to the three genes were genotyped in 380 Sarda dairy sheep. Statistical analysis revealed an association between SNP rs161844011 at <i>SPP1</i> (chromosome position Oar_v3 OAR6:36651870, gene region exon 7) and somatic cell score, while <i>POFUT1</i> SNP rs424501869 (OAR13:61007495, intron 1) was associated with curd firmness both 45 and 60 min after rennet addition (<i>p</i> = 0.015 and <i>p</i> = 0.007, respectively). SNP rs400874750 at <i>PRLR</i> gene (OAR16:39004070, intron 2) had a significant association with lactose content (<i>p</i> = 0.020), somatic cell score (<i>p</i> = 0.038), rennet coagulation time (<i>p</i> = 0.018) and curd firming time (<i>p</i> = 0.047). The outcome of this research confirmed predictions based on genomic studies, producing new information regarding the <i>SPP1</i>, <i>POFUT1</i> and <i>PRLR</i> genes, which may be useful for future breeding schemes.
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