Title:Analysis of polymorphisms in the lactoferrin gene as indicators of mastitis in Holstein cattle from Zamorano.
Author: Pablo Alejandro Valladares Medina (Honduras)
Advisors: Marielena Moncada Laínez, Ph.D. Manuel Parra Bracamonte, Ph.D. Rogel Castillo, M.Sc.
Department:Agronomy
Abstract
Mastitis is one of the most frequent and economically important diseases in dairy farms around the world, due to the atrophy of the udders and the lack of innocuousness that it produces in milk. The objective of the present study was to discover genomic variations in the lactoferrin (LFT) gene potentially associated with productive characters of Holstein cows from Zamorano. One hundred and twenty six biological samples were collected, and classified according to the frequency presented by cows in cases of mastitis during their first two lactational cycles. Twenty six animals that had presented mastitis in their first two lactations and a group of 12 animals that have never presented mastitis were selected. DNA extractions were made using hair follicles, and the amplification and sequencing of two specific regions of LTF were established with different PCR programs. The sequencing outcome was analyzed in the UGENE© program to determine the polymorphisms. There were 23 total polymorphisms of the lactoferrin gene; however, only five polymorphisms were significant with a frequency in the group of resistant cows of 13%. These polymorphisms are statistically related (Fisher test) to cows that according to their health and production record never had mastitis during the time they were in the dairy herd. This type of polymorphisms was founded from exon 1 of the lactoferrin gene. The polymorphisms and their association with productive characteristics were discovered, but other polymorphisms present in the lactoferrin gene must still be investigated and its effect on genetic improvement must be known.
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Analysis of polymorphisms in the lactoferrin gene in Holstein cattle.pdf
