Association of genetic variants of bovine prolactin with milk production traits of Black-and-White and Jersey cattle

Abstract. Associations between polymorphism localised in the third exon of the prolactin gene (PRL-RsaI) and milk xproduction traits of Black-and-White and Jersey cattle were analysed. A total of 427 cows were included in the study. PCR-RFLP method was used. The frequencies of genotypes and alleles were as follows: 0.7107 – AA, 0.2851 – AB, 0.0042 – BB; 0.8533 – PRL^A and 0.1467 – PRL^B for Black-and-White cattle and 0.0919 – AA, 0.4324 – AB, 0.4757 – BB; 0.3081 – PRL^A and 0.6919 – PRL^B for Jersey cattle. Statistically significant differences between the breeds were observed in the frequencies of genotypes and alleles. Associations between PRL-RsaI polymorphism and milk production traits of Jersey cows and lack of associations with these traits in Black-and-White cows were observed.