The PRNP ins/del and octapeptide repeat polymorphisms in Jersey cattle and their associations with production traits

Abstract

So far the studies on the prion protein (PRNP) gene have mainly been focused on the search for an association between detected polymorphisms in this gene and the susceptibility of cattle to bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The PRNP gene location on chromosome 13 suggests that the polymorphisms within this gene can be potential quantitative trait locus (QTL) markers for milk production traits. The aim of this study was the analysis of the potential effect of the insertion/deletion polymorphisms within the promoter region (23 bp) and intron 1 (12 bp) of the PRNP gene on milk production traits in Jersey cattle. The study material consisted of 171 Jersey cows. The following milk production traits were analysed: milk yield, milk fat and protein yield, milk fat and protein content. Statistically significant differences were found in milk fat content in the second lactation between animal groups representing the ins/del and del/del genotypes for the 23 bp polymorphism (P≤0.05). The ins/del 12 bp polymorphism was found to have significant (P≤0.05) and highly significant (P≤0.01) effects on milk yield. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.