ASSOCIATON OF KAPPA-CASEIN GENOTYPE AND THE LINEAR PARAMETER IN TWO INDIGENIOUS BOS INDICUS AND BOS TAURUS CATTLE IN NIGERIA

Kappa-casein as a mammalian milk protein is involved in a several important physiological processes and it’s about 80% of the total protein in cow milk. This study aimed at genotyping bovine Kappa casein(CSN3) in two indigenous Nigerian cattle populations and to determine the frequency distribution of Kappa casein variants as detected across the animals examined and their association with the body measurement. DNA was extracted from 100 blood samples of 50 White Fulani and 50 N’dama cattle for identification and genotyping of kappacasein gene by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) test using HindIII restriction endonucleases. The PCR products of the specific primer K-F and K-R for the two cattle breeds give 530bp specific band. Digestion of 530bp amplified products of White Fulani and N’dama by restriction endonuclease HindIII generated three fragments of 530-, 370- and 160- bp each for the two breeds. Results of the cuts with this enzyme show the presence of genotypes AA, AB and BB in the samples. These findings suggest that BB genotype could be selected for increase body conformation and protein content of milK.