Genetic diversity of Calpain 1 gene in Creole, Nellore and Brahman bovine breeds in Bolivia

JUAN ANTONIO PEREIRA; AGUSTIN H. FALOMIR-LOCKHART; ARIEL J LOZA; EGLE E. VILLEGAS-CASTAGNASSO; PEDRO ROJAS; MONICA H. CARINO; RODRIGO HOYOS; ANDRES ROGBERG-MUÑOZ; GUILLERMO GIOVAMBATTISTA

ARCHIVOS LATINOAMERICANOS DE PRODUCCIóN ANIMAL

ALPA

Lugar: Caligary; Año: 2022 vol. 30 p. 121 - 132

1022-1301

In Bolivia, beef production is mainly based on two genotypes, Bos taurus (Creole cattle) and B. indicus (zebu), being weight gain the main selection criteria used by farmers. However, meat quality and especially tenderness must be incorporated in the selection process. Meat tenderness is partly determined by the calpain (CAPN1)/calpastatin (CAST) protein system. Thus, the objective of the present work was to determine and compare the genetic variability of the CAPN1 gene in Creole (CreBo), Brahman (BraBo) and Nellore (NelBo) breeds in Bolivia. DNA was extracted from blood samples from 147 CreBo, 59 BraBo and 93 NelBo, and three polymorphisms were genotyped using ARMS-PCR (CAPN1-316 and CAPN1-4751) and PCR-RFLP (CAPN1-530). Furthermore, CAPN1-316 and CAPN1-4751 were analyzed with Axiom™ Bos 1 Genotyping Array r3. Allele frequencies associated with higher tenderness in CreBo, BraBo and NelBo were 0.22, 0 and 0.09 (CAPN1-316 C), 0.76, 0.16 and 0.08 (CAPN1-4751 C), and 0.77, 0.92 and 0.94 (CAPN1-530 G). Linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis revealed the presence of two LD blocks. Our results evidence that CreBo has a higher frequency of alleles associated with higher meat tenderness than the analyzed zebu breeds. These markers could be used in breeding programs to improve Bolivian cattle herd meat quality either by selection within Creole breeds or crosses with zebu cattle.