Abstract
The ancestors of Uruguayan Creole cattle were introduced by the Spanish conquerors in the XVII century, following which the population grew extensively and became semi-feral before the introduction of selected breeds. Today the Uruguayan Creole cattle genetic reserve consists of 575 animals. We used the tetra primer amplification refractory mutation system polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) to analyze the kappa-casein, beta-casein, alphaS1-casein and alpha-lactoalbumin gene polymorphisms and restriction fragment length polymorphism PCR (RFLP-PCR) for the beta-lactoglobulin and the acylCoA:diacyl glycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) genes. The kappa-casein and beta-lactoglobulin genes presented very similar A and B allele frequencies, while the alphas1-casein and alpha-lactoalbumin gene B alleles showed much higher frequencies than the corresponding A alleles. The beta-casein B allele was not found in the population sampled. There was a very high frequency of the DGAT1 gene A allele which is associated with low milk fat content and high milk yield. All loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and the level of heterozygosity agreed with the high genetic diversity observed in a previous analysis of this population. Preservation of the allelic richness observed in the Uruguayan Creole cattle should be considered for future dairy management and livestock genetic improvement. The results also emphasize the value of the tetra primers ARMS-PCR technique as a rapid, easy and economical way of genotyping cattle breeds for milk gene single nucleotide polymorphisms.
Highlights
Cattle were first introduced to Uruguay In the XVII century by a Spanish conqueror named Hernando Arias de Saavedra from the Iberian Peninsula and later were brought from the Jesuit missions located in a region calledAlto Uruguay’, these two foundation stocks resulting in the establishment of the Uruguayan Creole cattle (UCC) population (Wilkins et al, 1989; Primo, 1992)
The technique used for the b-CN gene only allowed us to differentiate between B and non-B alleles, we assumed that A allele corresponded to any other allele different from the B allele
Our study used milk major gene polymorphisms to elucidate the genetic structure of Uruguayan Creole cattle
Summary
Cattle were first introduced to Uruguay In the XVII century by a Spanish conqueror named Hernando Arias de Saavedra from the Iberian Peninsula and later were brought from the Jesuit missions located in a region calledAlto Uruguay’, these two foundation stocks resulting in the establishment of the Uruguayan Creole cattle (UCC) population (Wilkins et al, 1989; Primo, 1992). In 1930, a group of 35 Creole bulls, cows and calves were brought from inhabited areas of Treinta y Tres and Maldonado departments and established what is today the Uruguayan Creole cattle reserve (Arredondo, 1958; Postiglioni et al, 2002). Characterization of this population has been performed with different markers.
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