Open AccessMarker-assisted selection of dairy cows for β-casein gene A2 variant
Author(s) -
Carla Sebastiani,
Chiara Arcangeli,
Martina Torricelli,
Marcella Ciullo,
Nicoletta D’Avino,
Giulia Cinti,
Stefano Fisichella,
M. Biagetti
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
italian journal of food sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.281
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 2239-5687
pISSN - 1120-1770
DOI - 10.15586/ijfs.v34i2.2178
Subject(s) - casein , biology , offspring , genetic variants , trait , digestion (alchemy) , gene , zoology , food science , genetics , chemistry , genotype , pregnancy , chromatography , computer science , programming language
Many studies highlighted potential associations of β-casein A1 with specific human diseases and a minor digestibility of milk, due to the bioactive peptide β-casomorphin 7 (BCM-7) release during digestion. Conversely, the ancestral β-casein A2 variant seems to be a favorable trait because it is not associated with BMC-7 release. The aim of this work was to evaluate frequencies of β-casein variants in offspring of previously genotyped cows inseminated with A2 homozygous semen. The frequency of the A2/A2 animals has almost doubled from 37 to 69%. These are encouraging results with the perspective of reaching the goal of producing A2 milk.