Analysis of polymorphism in the bovine casein genes by use of the polymerase chain reaction

Methods have been devised for detecting polymorphisms in the bovine beta- and kappa-casein genes using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed either by restriction enzyme digestion (to reveal a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP] or by hybridization of an allele-specific oligonucleotide. These methods, as well as being faster and more sensitive than traditional RFLP methods, are of more general applicability since they can detect any change in DNA sequence. They require only a small sample of blood or semen and are applicable to animals of any age or sex. These methods make possible large-scale screening and thus selection for alleles at these loci. Typing of blood DNA can give erroneous results when the animal concerned is a twin; however, this can be overcome by retesting using milk or semen. Analysis of the kappa-casein genotype of Holstein-Friesian bulls gives frequencies for the A and B alleles of 0.80 and 0.20 respectively. Selection in favour of the B allele, which is superior for cheese production, could thus have a large effect. The A3 and B alleles at the beta-casein locus have been shown to be rare in the Holstein-Friesian population. Linkage disequilibrium exists between beta-casein B and kappa-casein B.