BMC Genetics (Jun 2010)

Haplotypes that include the <it>integrin alpha 11 </it>gene are associated with tick burden in cattle

  • Bunch Rowan J,
  • Porto Neto Laercio R,
  • Harrison Blair E,
  • Prayaga Kishore C,
  • Barendse William

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2156-11-55
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
p. 55

Abstract

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Abstract Background Infestations on cattle by the ectoparasite Boophilus (Rhipicephalus) microplus (cattle tick) impact negatively on animal production systems. Host resistance to tick infestation has a low to moderate heritability in the range 0.13 - 0.64 in Australia. Previous studies identified a QTL on bovine chromosome 10 (BTA10) linked to tick burden in cattle. Results To confirm these associations, we collected genotypes of 17 SNP from BTA10, including three obtained by sequencing part of the ITGA11 (Integrin alpha 11) gene. Initially, we genotyped 1,055 dairy cattle for the 17 SNP, and then genotyped 557 Brahman and 216 Tropical Composite beef cattle for 11 of the 17 SNP. In total, 7 of the SNP were significantly (P P P Conclusions These analyses confirm the location of a QTL affecting tick burden on BTA10 and position it close to the ITGA11 gene. The presence of a significant association in such widely divergent animals suggests that further SNP discovery in this region to detect causal mutations would be warranted.