Short Communication: Associations of BoLA alleles DRB3.2*16 and DRB3.2*23 with health-related traits in Holstein bulls

Sharma, B. S., Verschoor, C. P. and Karrow, N. A. 2011. Short communication:Associations of BoLA alleles DRB3.2*16 and DRB3.2*23 with health-related traits in Holstein bulls. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 91: 597–600. The relationships between bovine leukocyte antigen (BoLA) DRB3.2 alleles and health and fertility traits were investigated. A group of 548 Canadian and American Holstein bulls was genotyped for the presence of DRB3.2*16 and DRB3.2*23 alleles using the multi-primer target polymerase chain reaction technique. The traits of interest included somatic cell score (SCS), lactation persistency, daughter fertility (DF), and herd life (HL). Higher frequencies were observed for alleles DRB3.2*16 and DRB3.2*23 in this bull population compared with previous reports. In a comparison-wise level, some significant contrasts were detected; however, no association was detected between the DRB3.2 alleles and SCS. Allele DRB3.2*16 had a favorable effect on HL compared with allele DRB3.2*23. On the other hand, these two alleles had a favorable influence on DF, additionally, individuals carrying both of these two alleles performed better than the individuals carrying either allele. Further investigation is warranted to examine the effects of these alleles on HL and reproduction performance.