Beta-Casein Genotyping in Dairy Cow Herds in Gyor-Moson-Sopron County

The main objective of this study was to determine the beta-casein A1/A2 polymorphism status of animals in two Holstein Friesian dairy cow herds in Gyor-Moson-Sopron County, Hungary. The A1/A2 status of cattle is determined by the beta-casein gene on the sixth chromosome. The analysed single nucleotide polymorphism is non-synonymous; A1 and A2 variants of bovine beta-casein differ at position 67 of the amino acid chain: A1 variant codes for histidine and A2 codes for proline, which may affect the milk protein degradation process. The analysed polymorphism leads to key conformational changes in the secondary protein structure of beta-casein. Beta-casomorphin (known as BCM7) is released only from A1-type milk and cannot be completely degraded by enzymes during digestion. DNA isolation was performed from whole blood, and a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method with agarose gel electrophoresis was applied in order to determine individual genotypes. The results from the two dairy farms demonstrate that a high proportion of cows (86.08 and 90.74 %) carry the A2 gene variant without targeted selection. At farm „A”, beta-casein polymorphisms were determined in 599 cows and 148 heifers. The genotype distribution of the cows was 47.25 % heterozygous, 38.83 % homozygous A2, whereas 14.02 % of the cows carried the A1A1 genotype. In heifers, A2A2 was already present in a remarkably high frequency (91.89 %), whereas the prevalence of heterozygotes was 7.43 %, and A1A1 animals made up only 0.67 % of the analysed heifer population. In Hungary, a growing number of dairy farms are using verified A2 homozygous breeding bull semen. The introduction of homozygous A2 sperm on the farm „A” remarkably increased A2 frequency in the heifer population. In total, 324 cows were genotyped on farm „B”, where the A2A2 genotype was observed in 30.55 % of the animals. The second most common genotype was A1A2, with a genotype frequency of 60.19 %, whereas A1A1 homozygotes occurred with a 9.26 % frequency. The growing popularity of A2 milk due to potential health benefits is driving Hungarian stakeholders towards the targeted selection of dairy populations; animal genotyping is an evident approach to facilitate this transition.