Genetic Diagnosis of Band 3 Deficiency and Sexing in Bovine Preimplantation Embryos

Band 3 deficiency with hereditary spherocytosis and hemolytic anemia in Japanese black cattle, band 3(Bov.Yamagata), is caused by a total lack of band 3 protein with an autosomal dominant inheritance. Genotyping for band 3 deficiency and sexing were successfully achieved in biopsied embryo cells with efficiencies of 98.4% and 97.4%, respectively. Transfer of the embryo that was determined as homozygous for the mutant allele into a recipient cow resulted in the production of a fetus exhibiting the genotype and red cell phenotypes characteristic of band 3(Bov.Yamagata). These results demonstrate that our procedure is reliable and applicable to produce animals free from or homozygous for the mutant allele by breeding carrier animals.