Association of polymorphic variants of prolactin (PRL) and beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) genes with resistance/susceptibility to mastitis in holstein cows.

The work aims to analyze the associations of polymorphic variants of the PRL and BLG genes with resistance and susceptibility to mastitis in Holstein cows. The experimental study consisted of the selection of biomaterial samples from 250 heads of Holstein cows aged 3 years divided into two groups (healthy and with a confirmed diagnosis of mastitis). The determination of animal genotypes was carried out using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. The study of the nature of the association of polymorphic variants of the PRL and BLG gene with resistance/increased risk of mastitis established a significant deviation from the theoretically expected distribution of bBLG-HaeIII genotypes in the group of animals suffering from mastitis (the value of χ2 was 0.24). The bBLG-HaeIIIBB genotype can act as a marker of an increased risk of developing mastitis in Holstein cows; its frequency in the group of sick animals exceeds the frequency in the control group by more than 2 times (44.0 compared to 17.0%, respectively). The bBLG-HaeIIIAB genotype is significantly associated with mastitis resistance in Holstein cows; its frequency is 2 times lower than in the control group (28.0 compared to 54.0%).