A polymorphism in the bovine gamma-S-crystallin gene revealed by allele-specific amplification

Development of a PCR-based allele-specific assay from an RFLP probe linked to resistance to cereal cyst nematode in wheat

The RFLP locus Xglk605 identified by the probe Tag605 maps to a proximal position on the long arm of wheat chromosome 2B about 7 cM away from a gene conditioning resistance to cereal cyst nematode in the wheat line AUS10894. The clone Tag605 was partially sequenced and the PCR primer set AWP1 was designed. The 292-bp product, which showed no polymorphism between varieties, was cloned and sequenced. A single base difference was found in the sequence of the AWP1 products amplified and cloned from the wheat lines AUS10894 and "Spear'. PCR primers were designed with 3' termini that corresponded to the two alleles. A dual-PCR system was developed in which the primer sets AWP2 and AWP3 produced allele-specific amplification. The concentration of the oligonucleotide primers and the sequence of the primer-template mismatches were critical to the success of discriminatory allele amplification.

PCR-RFLP typing of the bovine myoglobin gene

We have identified substitutions in the 3' untranslated region of the bovine myoglobin gene, one of which affects an MboII restriction enzyme site resulting in a bi-allelic restriction fragment length polymorphism. Co-dominant inheritance of the alleles in three reference families was observed using a polymerase chain reaction--restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. The distribution of the alleles seems characteristic of cattle type--one of the alleles was not detected in purely taurine breeds. Furthermore, we mapped, using the polymerase chain reaction on a bovine-rodent somatic cell hybrid panel, the myoglobin gene to bovine chromosome five. It is therefore syntenic with gamma-interferon and insulin-like growth factor in which we have not found polymorphism. The myoglobin locus therefore serves as a type one marker on bovine chromosome five.

Polymerase chain reaction analysis of mitochondrial DNA polymorphism in N'Dama and Zebu cattle

A study of polymorphisms of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of West African N'Dama (Bos taurus) and East African Zebu (B. indicus) cattle was carried out to obtain information on maternal phylogenetic relationships between these breeds. A relatively large sample size was made possible by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of DNA prepared from small blood samples to generate fragments of two known polymorphic mtDNA regions, one within the gene encoding subunit 5 of NADH dehydrogenase and one encompassing the entire D-loop. This approach allowed us to achieve a higher resolution restriction analysis on mtDNA from more animals than would have been possible by conventional methods. PCR-amplified mtDNA of 58 animals from five populations was examined at 26 restriction sites by 16 enzymes. In this way 154 nucleotides of mtDNA were scanned for polymorphism. Six polymorphic sites were located by this means, five of which were within the D-loop and one of which was within the NADH dehydrogenase 5 gene. None of the polymorphisms observed could be considered typical of breed or type.

Characterization of the 3' untranslated region of bovine parathyroid hormone gene in N'Dama and Boran cattle

We describe a polymorphism in the bovine gene PTHG which can be readily typed by PCR assay. The polymorphism is codominantly inherited and the allele frequencies appear characteristic of Bo indicus and B. taurus cattle.