Immunogenetic and population genetic analyses of Iberian cattle.
Blood samples were collected from more than 100 animals in each of 2 Spanish cattle breeds (Retinto and De Lidia), 2 Portuguese breeds (Alentejana and Mertolenga), and American Longhorn cattle. All samples for the 4 Iberian breeds were tested for 20 polymorphic systems; American Longhorn were tested for 19 of the 20. For each breed an average inbreeding coefficient was estimated by a comparison of the observed and expected heterozygosity at 7 or 8 codominant systems tested. All breeds had positive values but only 3 breeds had estimates of inbreeding that were statistically significantly different from 0: De Lidia with f = 0.17, Retinto with f = 0.08 and Mertolenga with f = 0.05. The De Lidia breed especially may be suffering from inbreeding depression since this high value is greater than expected if all of the animals were progeny of half-sib matings. Genetic distances were calculated from the gene frequency data on these 5 breeds plus 9 other European breeds. Analyses of these distances show a closely related group of the 4 Iberian breeds and American Longhorn, confirming the close relationships among the Iberian breeds and the Iberian, probably Portuguese, origin of American Longhorn cattle.
D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001789:Blood Group Antigens; D002417:Cattle / Q000235:genetics*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005828:Genetics, Population; D007125:Immunogenetics; D007126:Immunoglobulin Allotypes; D007178:Inbreeding; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D013030:Spain; D013045:Species Specificity
D001789:Blood Group Antigens; D007126:Immunoglobulin Allotypes