Analysis of the population structure of Uruguayan Creole cattle as inferred from milk major gene polymorphisms

The ancestors of Uruguayan Creole cattle were introduced by the Spanish conquerors in the XVII century, following which the population grew extensively and became semi-feral before the introduction of selected breeds. Today the Uruguayan Creole cattle genetic reserve consists of 575 animals. We used the tetra primer amplification refractory mutation system polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) to analyze the -casein, -casein, S1-casein and -lactoalbumin gene polymorphisms and restriction fragment length polymorphism PCR (RFLP-PCR) for the -lactoglobulin and the acylCoA:diacyl glycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) genes. The -casein and -lactoglobulin genes presented very similar A and B allele frequencies, while the s1-casein and -lactoalbumin gene B alleles showed much higher frequencies than the corresponding A alleles. The -casein B allele was not found in the population sampled. There was a very high frequency of the DGAT1 gene A allele which is associated with low milk fat content and high milk yield. All loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and the level of heterozygosity agreed with the high genetic diversity observed in a previous analysis of this population. Preservation of the allelic richness observed in the Uruguayan Creole cattle should be considered for future dairy management and livestock genetic improvement. The results also emphasize the value of the tetra primers ARMS-PCR technique as a rapid, easy and economical way of genotyping cattle breeds for milk gene single nucleotide polymorphisms.