WARF TECHNOLOGIES

Traditional breeding techniques in dairy cattle take many years and do not efficiently take into account all sources of genetic variability. Marker-assisted selection is an alternative that could lower the high cost of progeny testing used in traditional breeding methods; however, marker-assisted selection requires genetic markers for superior milk production traits.

POU1F1 may provide one such genetic marker. POU1F1 is a transcription factor that controls the expression of the genes for growth hormone and prolactin, which are important in mammary gland development and milk production and secretion. In addition, genes that are downstream of the POU1F1 signaling pathway may be associated with milk production and health traits.

UW-Madison researchers studied the effects of POU1F1 on health and milk production traits in two independent North American Holstein populations. They identified a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in exon 3 of POU1F1 that changes the amino acid proline to histidine.

This SNP is significantly associated with milk yield and productive life (a measure of longevity), making POU1F1 a strong candidate for marker-assisted selection in dairy cattle breeding programs. Dairy cattle could be screened for the presence of this SNP, and animals with the beneficial allele could be selectively bred.

• Marker-assisted selection in dairy cattle breeding programs
• Identifying cattle with superior longevity and milk production traits

• Enables selection decisions to be made very early—as soon as an animal is born or even earlier if embryos are tested
• Speeds up cattle breeding by shortening the generation interval
• Could reduce the high cost of progeny testing
• DNA markers are easy to measure, unambiguous and co-dominant.
   

This polymorphism was shown to be associated with productive life and milk yield in a group of more than 2,000 individuals from two independent Holstein populations.

For More Information About the Inventors

• Hasan Khatib

Related Technologies

• See WARF reference number P05142US for another SNP associated with longevity in dairy cattle.

Publications

• Huang W., Maltecca C. and Khatib H. 2008. A Proline-to-Histidine Mutation in POU1F1 Is Associated with Production Traits in Dairy Cattle. Anim. Genet. 39, 554-557.

Tech Fields

• Animals, Agriculture & Food : Animal biotech