Individual milk samples from 121 cows in mid lactation of the Swedish Red and Swedish Holstein breeds with known protein genotypes of b-and k-casein and b-lactoglobulin were analysed. Chromatographically pure chymosin was added to skim milk and rheological properties of the gels were measured using a Bohlin VOR Rheometer. Coagulation time (CT) and curd firmness after 25 min (G 0 25 ) were registered for each sample. The B allele of k-casein was associated with improved coagulating properties of milk, whereas the E allele showed a negative effect on these traits. The b-casein A 2 A 2 genotype was associated with inferior milk coagulation characteristics. Total protein concentration of milk was positively associated with curd firmness, but showed no association with milk coagulation time. r

The relationship between genetic variants for milk protein and the composition of milk was analyzed on 4475 repeated milk samples from individual cows; 371 dairy cows of the Swedish Red and White breed and 204 cows of the Swedish Holstein breed were used. The registrations included percentages of casein, protein, fat, and lactose in combination with milk yield and SCC. The genotype of individual cows for alpha(s1)-CN, beta-CN, kappa-CN, and beta-LG was determined by alkaline and acidic PAGE. A mixed animal model was used for the analysis; beta-LG and aggregate casein genotypes were included simultaneously as separate fixed effects in the statistical model. The results suggest a positive additive effect of the beta-LG B allele on casein content and on the ratio of casein to total protein. For the latter trait, the beta-LG genotype accounted for a relatively large part of the phenotypic variance, corresponding to a reduction in residual variance of 11% when included in the model. The corresponding value for casein content was 0.5%. The lack of unfavorable associations between milk protein variants and the traits included in this study makes the beta-LG gene an obvious candidate when the breeding objective is improved conversion of milk protein into cheese.

Class II genes of the bovine major histocompatibility complex (MHC) have been investigated by Southern blot analysis using human DNA probes. Previous studies revealed the presence of bovine DO beta, DQ alpha, DQ beta, DR alpha, and DR beta genes, and restriction fragment length polymorphisms for each of these genes were documented. In the present study, the presence of three additional class II genes, designated DZ alpha, DY alpha, and DY beta, are reported. DZ alpha was assumed to correspond to the human DZ alpha gene while the other two were designated DY because their relationship to human class II genes could not be firmly established. The linkage relationships among bovine class II genes and two additional loci, TCP1B and C4, were investigated by family segregation analysis and analysis of linkage disequilibrium. The results clearly indicated that all these loci belong to the same linkage group. This linkage group is divided into two subregions separated by a fairly high recombination frequency. One region includes the C4, DQ alpha, DQ beta, DR alpha, and DR beta loci and the other one is composed of the DO beta, DY alpha, DY beta, and TCP1B loci. No recombinant was observed within any of these subregions and there was a strong or fairly strong linkage disequilibrium between loci within groups. In contrast, as many as five recombinants among three different families were detected in the interval between these subregions giving a recombination frequency estimate of 0.17 +/- 0.07. The fairly high recombination frequency observed between class II genes in cattle is strikingly different from the corresponding recombination estimates in man and mouse. The finding implies either a much larger molecular distance between some of the bovine class II genes or alternatively the presence of a recombinational "hot spot" in the bovine class II region.

No abstract

No abstract