Native cattle breeds of Southern Italy: karyological profile

Abstract

Italian typical products of animal origin are strictly linked to native breeds. Their protection requires control of their reproductive and productive abilities. Hence the need for karyological studies to identify subjects with chromosome abnormalities linked to hypofertility or sterility. We report the results of karyological analyses carried out from January 2008 to December 2008 on 145 cattle of native breeds (Agerolese, Cinisara, Modicana and Podolica) reared in Southern Italy so as to evaluate and characterize the presence of chromosome abnormalities in subjects with normal phenotypes. Besides the 128 karyologically normal subjects (2n=60, XY and 2n=60, XX), 17 were carriers of rob (1;29) and one male was a carrier of cellular chimerism 2n=60, XX/XY. According to our data there is a high frequency of rob (1;29) in Cinisara and Podolica breeds while in Agerolese there was only one case of rob (1;29) and none in Modicana.