Polymorphism in the Mitochondrial Cytochrome B of Crossbred Madura-Limousine Cattle

Abstract

Madura cattle breeders in rural Indonesia prefer to request artificial insemination services for their cows with Limousin bull’s freeze-thawed semen. However, crossbred Madura-Limousin (Madrasin) bulls reported a high infertility rate. The cytochrome b (Cytb) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been linked to certain types of male infertility. This study aimed to identify the mutation Cytb mtDNA in Madura-Limousin crossbred cattle to develop a fundamental breeding approach that would promote animal protein production and preserve the genetics of purebred Madura cattle. Blood samples were collected from the two bulls of crossbred Madura-Limousin, purebred Madura, and Limousin bulls for DNA analysis. The polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify the Cytb mtDNA, which was then sequenced using the Sanger method. The MEGA 7.0 software was used with the neighbor-joining method to construct the phylogenetic tree. Compared to the purebred Madura cattle (n= 2) and purebred Limousin bulls (n= 2), the crossbred Madura-Limousin bulls (also known as Madrasin) (n= 3) exhibited alterations in their nucleotide sequence of 13 nucleotide mutation between Madura compared to madrasin, and 14 nucleotide mutation between Limousin compared to Madrasin cattle. As observed in the resulting clades, the purebred Madura and Limousin cattle were grouped, while Madrasin crossbred cattle were separated. It could be concluded that Madrasin bulls exhibited alterations in their nucleotide and protein sequences of Cytb mtDNA, placing them in a distinct group from purebred Madura cattle and Limousin bulls.