Validation of somatic cell score-associated SNPs from Holstein cattle in Sudanese Butana and Butana × Holstein crossbred cattle

The Bos indicus zebu cattle Butana is the most commonly used indigenous dairy cattle breed in Sudan. In the last years, high-yielding Holstein dairy cattle were introgressed into Butana cattle to improve their milk yield and simultaneously keep their good adaption to extreme environmental conditions. With the focus on the improvement of milk production, other problems arose such as an increased susceptibility to mastitis. Thus, genetic selection for mastitis resistance should be considered to maintain healthy and productive cows. In this study, we tested 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) which had been associated with somatic cell score (SCS) in Holstein cattle for association with SCS in 37 purebred Butana and 203 Butana × Holstein crossbred cattle from Sudan. Animals were genotyped by competitive allele-specific PCR assays and association analysis was performed using a linear mixed model. All 10 SNPs were segregating in the crossbred Butana × Holstein populations, but only 8 SNPs in Sudanese purebred Butana cattle. The SNP on chromosome 13 was suggestively associated with SCS in the Butana × Holstein crossbred population (rs109441194, 13:79,365,467, PBF = 0.054) and the SNP on chromosome 19 was significantly associated with SCS in both populations (rs41257403, 19:50,027,458, Butana: PBF = 0.003, Butana × Holstein: PBF = 6.2 × 10−16). The minor allele of both SNPs showed an increase in SCS. Therefore, selection against the disadvantageous minor allele could be used for genetic improvement of mastitis resistance in the studied populations. However, investigations in a bigger population and across the whole genome are needed to identify additional genomic loci.

Structure of the holstein dairy cattle subpopulation in Russia by locus CSN2 and CSN3

Purpose: to determine the potential of the Russian subpopulation of the Holstein breed in relation to selection by loci of beta-and kappa-casein.Materials and methods. For loci CSN2 and CSN3, 1,539 Holstein cattle were genotyped, including 1,242 cows and heifers and 297 sires, and information on CSN2 and CSN3 genotypes of 297 US bulls was analyzed (World Wide Sires, Ltd).Results. It has been established that in the last two years there has been an increase in the percentage of sires in WWS with CSN2 genotypes A2A2 and CSN3 genotypes BB. Thus, sires allele frequency in the 2019 catalog was 0.51 and 0.29, respectively; and in the 2021 catalog was 0.68 and 0.31, respectively.Genotyped sires of domestic breeding organizations, which are mostly foreign origin, were characterized by predominance of the A2 allele CSN2; in this group the frequency of the allele was 0.63. However, the CSN3 B allele in the group of sires belonging to domestic organizations was found with a frequency of 0.34, which is 1.6 times lower than that of sires of American origin.In the genotyped group of Holstein cows and heifers (n = 1242) belonging to 3 large farms in the Krasnodar Krai, the gene frequency CSN2 allele A2 was minimal (0.57), and the CSN3 allele B (0.40) was higher than the allele frequency in the sires group of domestic breeding enterprises.Conclusion. At present, Russian breeding enterprises and farms are lagging behind in these indicators, however, by conducting targeted selection in accordance with the indicated trend, by selecting the appropriate breeding bulls, it is possible in the next generation to increase the proportion of animals carrying valuable genotypes.

Genome-Wide Association Study Candidate Genes on Mammary System-Related Teat-Shape Conformation Traits in Chinese Holstein Cattle

In the dairy industry, mammary system traits are economically important for dairy animals, and it is important to explain their fundamental genetic architecture in Holstein cattle. Good and stable mammary system-related teat traits are essential for producer profitability in animal fitness and in the safety of dairy production. In this study, we conducted a genome-wide association study on three traits—anterior teat position (ATP), posterior teat position (PTP), and front teat length (FTL)—in which the FarmCPU method was used for association analyses. Phenotypic data were collected from 1000 Chinese Holstein cattle, and the GeneSeek Genomic Profiler Bovine 100K single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) chip was used for cattle genotyping data. After the quality control process, 984 individual cattle and 84,406 SNPs remained for GWAS work analysis. Nine SNPs were detected significantly associated with mammary-system-related teat traits after a Bonferroni correction (p < 5.92 × 10−7), and genes within a region of 200 kb upstream or downstream of these SNPs were performed bioinformatics analysis. A total of 36 gene ontology (GO) terms and 3 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways were significantly enriched (p < 0.05), and these terms and pathways are mainly related to metabolic processes, immune response, and cellular and amino acid catabolic processes. Eleven genes including MMS22L, E2F8, CSRP3, CDH11, PEX26, HAL, TAMM41, HIVEP3, SBF2, MYO16 and STXBP6 were selected as candidate genes that might play roles in the teat traits of cows. These results identify SNPs and candidate genes that give helpful biological information for the genetic architecture of these teat traits, thus contributing to the dairy production, health, and genetic selection of Chinese Holstein cattle.

Impacts of Artificial Insemination on Holstein Cattle Population in Turkey

The use of artificial insemination (AI) is common practice in most countries all around the world, in dairy cattle. AI, which started to be implemented in Turkey in 1930, became more widespread in 1987 in order to rapidly improve the native breed. According to data from 2020, 37% of the cattle population is a crossbred and about 15% of this is Holstein cattle. In the last 5 years, approximately 26.5 million doses of sperm have been imported, in other words, an average of 0.70 doses per milked cow. In this study, the pedigree file records of 5 673 405 Holsteins born from 1975 to 2012, and all sires were known individually were selected for this study. It was determined that 5 673 405 individuals had a total of 11 883 sires. The 10 most used sires are parents of 10.61% of progeny in the population. For today, almost 37% of the cattle population is converted to exotic breeds and their crossbreeds. Approximately 15% of this is Holstein. In the last 5 years, approximately 26.5 million doses of semen have been imported, in other words, an average of 0.70 doses of semen per milked cow. Although frequent use of some sires leads to increased inbreeding in some herds, the consanguinity coefficient in the population was found to be 0.0145. Apart from various problems in insemination practices in Turkey, it can be suggested that an effective way is followed in semen selection and importation.