Genetic Polymorphisms of alpha-lactalbumin and beta-lactoglobulin in South Anatolian and East Anatolian Red Cattle

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to determine the genotype and allele frequencies for alpha-lactalbumin (alpha-LA) ve beta-lactoglobulin (beta-LG) that are claimed to be associated with milk production traits in cattle in South Anatolian Red (SAR) and East Anatolian Red (EAR) cattle. In this study, 40 cattle for each of SAR and EAR were used. Genomic DNA samples were isolated by using standard salt-out method. After Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), alpha-LA and beta-LG genes were digested with MspI and RsaI (R5), AvaI (R3), MspI (R1), Sau3A (R2) restriction enzymes, respectively. As a result, SAR and EAR cattle breeds have the lower allel frequencies for alpha-LA and beta-LG gene than high-yielding European dairy cattle breeds. Because of that reason we may claim that applying the selection programs for developing the allels belonging to both genes may contribute to the trials to improve the production parameters in SAR and EAR breed bovines.