Identification of single nucleotide polymorphism in the selected quantitative trait loci associated with resistance/susceptibility to tick infestation in Vechur cattle

The present study aimed to identify the polymorphisms in four QTLs that were reported to have an association with resistance / susceptibility to tick infestation in Vechur cattle of Kerala. The population under study comprised of 45 Vechur cattle from the farm. The QTLs and SNPs were selected from the Animal QTLdb. The SNPs and the QTLs (in parenthesis) used in this study were: rs41661020 (#101148), rs43708490 (#135798), rs41577070 (#135800) and rs29009970 (#135801). Blood samples were collected from the selected animals and genomic DNA was isolated and used for genotyping and polymorphism study by PCR-RFLP and confirmed by sequencing. Genotyping was done by direct counting and the allelic and genotypic frequencies were estimated by POPGENE1.32. The results revealed a polymorphic pattern for the SNPs rs41577070, rs41661020, and SNPrs43708490 in the population under study. The SNP rs29009970 was dimorphic. However, the Chi-square test revealed that Vechur were in HWE for SNPs rs 41577070, rs41661020, and rs43708490, whereas, the SNPs rs29009970 showed a significant departure from the equilibrium.