Low frequency of Y anomaly detected in Australian Brahman cow-herds.
Indicine cattle have lower reproductive performance in comparison to taurine. A chromosomal anomaly characterized by the presence Y markers in females was reported and associated with infertility in cattle. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of the anomaly in Brahman cows. Brahman cows (n = 929) were genotyped for a Y chromosome specific region using real time-PCR. Only six out of 929 cows had the anomaly (0.6%). The anomaly frequency was much lower in Brahman cows than in the crossbred population, in which it was first detected. It also seems that the anomaly doesn't affect pregnancy in the population. Due to the low frequency, association analyses couldn't be executed. Further, SNP signal of the pseudoautosomal boundary region of the Y chromosome was investigated using HD SNP chip. Pooled DNA of "non-pregnant" and "pregnant" cows were compared and no difference in SNP allele frequency was observed. Results suggest that the anomaly had a very low frequency in this Australian Brahman population and had no effect on reproduction. Further studies comparing pregnant cows and cows that failed to conceive should be executed after better assembly and annotation of the Y chromosome in cattle.
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Departamento de Zootecnia, Jaboticabal, SP 14884-900, Brazil.
Gregório M F
GM
de Camargo
CSIRO Agriculture, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, Brisbane, QLD 4067, Australia.
Laercio R
LR
Porto-Neto
School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4067, Australia.
Marina R S
MR
Fortes
CSIRO Agriculture, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, Brisbane, QLD 4067, Australia.
Rowan J
RJ
Bunch
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Departamento de Zootecnia, Jaboticabal, SP 14884-900, Brazil.
Humberto
H
Tonhati
CSIRO Agriculture, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, Brisbane, QLD 4067, Australia.
Antonio
A
Reverter
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Centre for Animal Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4067, Australia.
Stephen S
SS
Moore
CSIRO Agriculture, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, Brisbane, QLD 4067, Australia.
Sigrid A
SA
Lehnert
Bos indicus; Fertility; Reproduction; Sex chromosomes; Y translocation