RFLP/HINFI POLYMORPHISM BETWEEN EXON 5 AND EXON 6 OF THE PIT-1 GENE IN ROMANIAN SIMMENTAL CATTLE

Abstract

Pit-1 has been identified as a pituitary-specific transcription factor that regulated the expression of growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) genes in the anterior pituitary gland. The polymorphism within Pit-1 was studied in several cattle breeds (Angus, Holstein, Brown Schwitz, Hereford etc), and association among different genotypes and milk yield/quality, and also with different conformation traits, were performed. The allele A of Pit-1 gene was associated to a higher milk production and a higher content of protein in milk, genotypes favourable for selection being AA and AB. The objectives of this study were to identify a polymorphism in the 1.35 kb fragment of bovine Pit -1 gene and estimate allelic frequencies in 76 Romanian Simmental cattle using HinfI/PCR-RFLP method.