MARKER ASSISTED SELECTION FOR THE POLLED TRAIT IN CATTLE

Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5B5

Nine microsatellite markers and one gene deletion within 20 cM of polled were used to genotype 20 Charolais, Limousin, and Simmental families segregating for polled, with a total of 221 offspring. This set of markers would allow prediction of a homozygous polled individual using family material 99% of the time. Caution in choice of markers must be used however since marker order changed when linkage was analyzed according to breed, suggesting a chromosomal rearrangement. The 7 markers between polled and KAP8 were in inverse order between two breeds, Charolais and Limousin, of French origin and the Simmental breed, of Germanic breed. We suggest that an inversion of this region is a possible explanation for this finding.