Short Communication: Predominance of β-Casein (CSN2) C Allele in Goat Breeds Reared in Italy

• Published in: Journal of dairy science 2005-05, Vol.88 (5), p.1878-1881
• Main Authors: Chessa, S., Budelli, E., Chiatti, F., Cito, A.M., Bolla, P., Caroli, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alleles; Amino Acid Sequence; Animal productions; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Breeding; Caseins - chemistry; Caseins - genetics; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Frequency; genetic polymorphism; Genotype; goat; Goats - genetics; Humans; Italy; Milk and cheese industries. Ice creams; Molecular Sequence Data; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Polymorphism, Genetic; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; Sequence Alignment; single strand conformational polymorphism; Terrestrial animal productions; Vertebrates; β-casein
• ISSN: 0022-0302; 1525-3198
• DOI: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(05)72863-0

A protocol for the rapid and simultaneous genotyping of A, C, and 0 ′CSN2 alleles in goat was developed by single strand conformational polymorphism polymerase chain reaction (SSCP-PCR) technique. Screening the CSN2 variability in 7 goat breeds reared in Italy validated the genotyping test. The SSCP-PCR technique was also suitable for monitoring CSN2 polymorphism. In particular, the discrimination between CSN2*A and CSN2*C is important because the 2 corresponding protein variants cannot be separated by standard typing techniques. The monitoring of CSN2 variability in the goat breeds indicates the predominance of the C allele. In most breeds, CSN2*C occurred with the highest frequency, except in Saanen where CSN2*A and CSN2*C showed similar frequencies. Variant CSN2*C occurred with a frequency of 0.68 (Camosciata), 0.70 (Jonica), 0.71 (Garganica), 0.82 (Maltese), 0.87 (Cilentana), and 0.97 (Orobica). The alignment among the mature CSN2 sequences of different species suggests that CSN2*A is the ancestral allele compared with CSN2*C. Interestingly, the CSN2*A goat variant showed higher frequencies in selected breeds (Saanen and Camosciata).