| Bovime spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow diseases, is an acquired prion disease. Recent studies show that two insertion/deletion (indel) polymorphisms of Bovine prion protein gene (PRNP) promoter region, a23-bp indel and a12-bp indel, are associated with the susceptibility to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle. The cattle with the23-bp and12-bp deletion genotypes and alleles have significantly higher susceptibility to BSE than the ones with the23-bp and12-bp insertion genotypes and alleles. Inner Mongoia is one of the largest livestock production bases in China, therefore, the project aims to study the frequency distribution of23-bp and12-bp indel polymorphisms of prion protein gene in the main cattle breeds in Inner Mongoia on the genetic level. Completion of this work will provide an important theoretical basis for the prevention of BSE and selective breeding against BSE in this area.In this study, the two insertion/deletion polymorphisms of PRNP gene in the main four cattle breeds from Inner Mongolian, Hereford, Simmental, Black Angus and Mongolian cattle, were studied by PCR amplification, electrophoretic analysis, and DNA sequencing. The results showed that the frequencies of deletion genotypes and alleles of23-and12-bp indels were lower, wherease the frequencies of insertion genotypes and alleles of the two indels were higher in Mongolia cattle than in the other three cattle breeds. In Mongolian cattle, the23-bp insertion/12-bp insertion was the major haplotype, whereas in Hereford, Simmental, and Black Angus cattle, the23-bp deletion/12-bp deletion was the major haplotype. These results demonstrated that Mongolian cattle could be more resistant to BSE, compared with the other three cattle breeds, because of its relatively low frequencies of deletion genotypes and alleles of23-and12-bp indel polymorphisms. Thus, this race could be important for selective breeding to improve resistance against BSE in this area. |
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