DNA analysis of the Russian populations of Aberdeen Angus, Hereford and Belgian Blue cattle

Abstract

Abstract. The use of specialized meat breeds in cattle breeding programs is considered very promising for improving herds' productivity. However, in animal genotype, along with genes that positively affect the productivity signs, there are genes whose mutations, known as genetic defects, negatively affect the health of animals. The aim of the study was the screening of the Russian populations of Aberdeen Angus, Hereford and Belgian Blue cattle on gene mutations associated with the genetic defects of arthrogryposis multiplex (AM), osteopetrosis (OS), developmental duplication (DD), double muscling (M1), hypotrichosis (HY) and maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) as well as the F94L polymorphism of myostatin gene (MSTN) linked with the gene responsible for less fat content in the carcass by means of DNA analysis. In the article, test systems based on the polymerase chain reaction method are presented. The analysis of the Aberdeen Angus (n=4480) population has revealed 0.19 ± 0.09 % animal M1 carriers, 0.53 ± 0.03 % OS carriers, 1.92 ± 0.09 % AM carriers and 9.00 ± 0.20 % DD carriers. The genotyping of Hereford cattle of Russian populations (n=525) has not revealed any individual carriers of MSUD or HY genetic defects. All of the Belgian Blue population (n=92) animals were heterozygous M1 carriers. The study of the F94L MSTN polymorphism has demonstrated extremely high frequencies of the desirable A allele (0.93 and 0.90) in two Aberdeen Angus populations with an average mean of 0.63 ± 0.08, which was 32 % higher compared to the Belgian Blue population. The results suggest the high genetic potential of the Aberdeen Angus and Belgian Blue cattle, but the existence in the genotypes of the mutant alleles associated with hereditary diseases indicates the risk of uncontrolled use of these breeds.

The Molecular Bases Study of the Inherited Diseases for the Health Maintenance of the Beef Cattle

“…The study of the meat cattle genetic defects since 2017 has shown the existence of animals carrying the mutant alleles linked with the appearance of inherited diseases in their genotypes [ 24 ].…”

“…At the beginning of the study, we assumed that the Hereford breed was free from harmful mutations associated with congenital pathologies [ 24 ]. However, the present investigations have shown the contrasting fact: Among the investigated populations, the single animal carriers of MSUD, ICM, HY and CWH have been revealed ( Table 5 ).…”

Genetic Variations and Haplotypic Diversity in the Myostatin Gene of Different Cattle Breeds in Russia

“…The DNA were extracted from the available biomaterial of the animals (skin, sperm, milk, and blood) by methods traditionally used in the lab of genetics and genomics of cattle at L.K. Ernst Federal Research Center for Animal Husbandry (Dubrovitsy, Moscow, Russia) [22].…”

“…The genotyping methods were chosen based on the structures of the studied mutations. Due the presence of the small deletion for nt821(del11) genotyping, we used the allele-specific PCR method (AS-PCR) [22]. For F94L polymorphism diagnostics, we chose the PCR-RFLP (PCR with the subsequent analysis of restriction fragments length polymorphism) method due the existence of a mutation area recognition site for the TaqI restriction endonuclease site in the DNA.…”

Growth Performance Evaluation of Belgian Blue Cattle and Their Crossbred in Indonesian Livestock Breeding Centers

“…It has been reported by Meyermans et al (2022) that the 11-deletion (known as nt821(del11)) occurs in the MSTN sequence of BB cattle, which leads to a premature stopcodon and dysfunctional protein. However, several reports found that a higher birth weight leads to a higher risk of dystocia (Druet et al, 2014;Konovalova et al, 2021Konovalova et al, , 2020Simões and Stilwell, 2021). To reduce the effect of dystocia, almost all the purebred BB offspring in Indonesia were delivered using a cesarean section procedure.…”