The cosegregation of ten coding loci has been investigated, in a panel of 37 somatic cell hybrids resulting from the fusion of a hamster cell line and river buffalo lymphocytes, by use of Southern hybridization technique. Five syntenic groups, TCRB-PGY3, ASS-ABL, FUCA1P-CRYG, MBP-YES1, and CGN1-ACTA1, previously assigned to cattle as U13, U16, U17, U28, and U29 respectively, were also found to be syntenic in buffalo. Based on the extensive syntenic conservation and banding homology between cattle and river buffalo, comparative mapping predicts the localization of these syntenic groups on river buffalo Chromosomes (Chrs) :BBU7, BBU12, BBU2q, BBU22, and BBU4q respectively as they have been previously localized on cattle Chrs BTA4, BTA11, BTA2, BTA24 & BTA28.

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River buffalo (Bubalus bubalis bubalis) with a population over 135 million heads is an important livestock. Interleukin 8 (IL-8) is a member of the chemokine family and is an important chemoattractant for neutrophils associated with a wide variety of inflammatory diseases such as endometritis. Tissue samples from the mammary gland, uterus and ovary were obtained from river buffalo (Mediterranean type) with and without endometritis. Bacteriological examination showed the presence of both gram positive and negative in all buffalo with endometritis. RNA extraction and complementary DNA (cDNA) synthesis were conducted from all tissues. Specific primer for IL8 full coding regions was designed using known cDNA sequences of Bubalus bubalis, Genbank accession number AY952930.1. IL-8 gene expression was investigated in buffalo tissues. Expression of IL-8 in buffalo with endometritis was found to increase significantly over buffalo without endometritis only in the uterus (P = 0.0159). PCR products from uterus tissues (target organs) of buffalo with and without endometritis, were purified and sequenced. No polymorphic sites were detected in the investigated samples. IL-8 cDNA nucleotide sequences of buffalo with and without endometritis were 100% identical (accession number JX413057). Buffalo IL8 cDNAs were compared with corresponding sequences of member of subfamily Bovinae (buffalo and cattle) and subfamily Caprinae (sheep and goat). IL-8 species specific differences were identified.

Objective: Casein genetic polymorphisms are important and well known due to their effects on quantitative traits and technological properties of milk manufacturing. The casein fraction of ruminant milk proteins consists of four caseins, namely αs1-, αs2-, β-and K-casein. At the DNA level, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) allow for the simultaneous typing of several alleles at casein loci, as well as the detection of unknown polymorphisms. The genetic polymorphism of two ovine milk protein casein genes, β-and K-caseins, was studied in sheep animals belonging to three main breeds reared in Egypt (Rahmani, Barki and Ossimi), as a tool for genetic improvement of milk trait characteristics. Methodology and results: SSCP of β-casein exon 7 revealed two different patterns in eighty-five tested animals. The sequence analysis of the PCR product (299-bp) of these two different patterns showed two single nucleotide substitutions; A→C and C→T without any amino acid exchange. The frequencies of these two different patterns were 96.67% and 3.33% in Rahmani; 65.52% and 34.48% in Ossimi and 88.46% and 11.54% in Barki, respectively. The nucleotide sequence of β-casein in Egyptian sheep was submitted in database NCBI/ GenBank with the accession number JX080379. The polymorphism of Kcasein gene was also detected in eighty-six animals using PCR-SSCP technique. PCR amplified a fragment with 406-bp in exon 4 of this gene. SSCP results showed that all tested sheep animals are monomorphic. The alignment between our sequences with published sequence revealed two nucleotide substitutions; C→T and T→C. The nucleotide sequence of K-casein in our tested animals was submitted in database NCBI/ GenBank with the accession number JX050176. Conclusion and application of findings: This study aimed to identify the genetic polymorphism of β and Kcasein genes, which are strongly related to economically important milk quantitative traits in some Egyptian sheep breeds, as a tool or genetic markers for improvement of these breeds.