Analysis of association of two SNP in cholecystokinin B receptor gene with behaviour scores in German Angus and German Simmental cattle (Brief Report)

Abstract. Behaviour including temperament of cattle especially suckler cows is important for the safety of stockmen and animals. The temperament of cattle can be defined as the answer to human handling situations (BURROW 1997) and can be measured for calves in different tests like tethering test, weighing test or separation- and restraint test (TULLOH 1961, BOISSY and BOUISSOU 1988, LE NEINDRE et al. 1995). The heritabilities for behaviour-traits ranged from 0.02 to 0.33 (GAULY et al. 2002). In this study the cholecystokinin B receptor gene is analysed. This candidate gene is important in the regulation of anxiety in rats (WANG et al. 2005) and in humans (HÖSING et al. 2004). In different tests with CCKBR-knockout mice they show more exploratory activity than the wild type mice (RAUD et al. 2003) and less anxious behaviour (HORINOUCHI et al. 2004).