Genetic diversity in Swiss cattle breeds

  First attempts at establishing the genetic relationships among cattle populations relied on archeological evidence (E pstein 1971; E pstein and M ason 1984) and protein polymorphisms (B aker and M anwell 1980, 1991). L oftus et al. (1994) examined mitochondrial DNA to determine the divergence time between Bos taurus and Bos indicus. Today most studies on genetic diversity are based on microsatellite analysis (L itt and L uty 1989; T autz 1989; W eber and M ay 1989). Microsatellites were used in, e.g. man (B owcock et al. 1994), canids (R oy et al. 1994; F redholm and W inter & oslash ; 1995) and sheep (B uchanan et al. 1994). Recent studies in cattle are also microsatellite based (e.g. M achugh et al. 1994; C iampolini et al. 1995; M oazami ‐G oudarzi et al. 1997) and aim at facilitating the development of management programs for endangered breeds (FAO 1981). Our microsatellite‐based investigation on the genetic diversity between and within Swiss cattle breeds included Original Swiss Brown, purebred Simmental, Holstein, Hérens and Evolènard. Previous studies in Swiss breeds made use of blood group systems (R euse 1969), serum transferrin and hemoglobin (K rummen 1964), amylase (B user 1970) and carboanhydrases (K& auml ; stli et al. 1980). The Hérens breed is endemic to the canton of Wallis. The Evolènard, which are very few in numbers and restricted to a single valley in the canton of Wallis, are phenotypically very similar to the Hérens with the exception of the coat colour. In the Aosta valley (Italy) which borders the canton of Wallis these two breeds find their counterparts. The phenotype of the Aosta Chestnut fits the Hérens and the Aosta Black Pied fits the Evolènard. The Holstein breed replaced the Fribourg breed which was a colour variant of the purebred Simmental breed (E ngeler et al. 1961) and is now extinct. The Original Swiss Brown and the purebred Simmental are endemic to Switzerland.