Prevalence of paunch calf syndrome carriers in Italian Romagnola cattle.

Vet J. June 2014;200(3):459-61.

L Murgiano¹, C Drögemüller², F Sbarra³, M Bolcato⁴, A Gentile⁵

¹ Institute of Genetics, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bremgartenstr. 109a, 3001 Bern, Switzerland.; ² Institute of Genetics, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bremgartenstr. 109a, 3001 Bern, Switzerland.; ³ National Association of Italian Beef-Cattle Breeders, Via Visciolosa, 06132 S. Martino in Colle, Italy.; ⁴ Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano Emilia, Bologna, Italy.; ⁵ Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano Emilia, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: arcangelo.gentile@unibo.it.

Abstract

The term 'paunch calf syndrome' encompasses the multi-organic lethal developmental dysplasia reported in the Romagnola breed of cattle and is characterised by facial deformities, an enlarged and floating abdomen containing considerable abdominal effusion, and hepatic fibrosis. Paunch calf syndrome is caused by a missense mutation in the KDM2B gene (c.2503G>A) that is thought to lead to an amino acid exchange (p.D835N). In this study, the prevalence of carriers of the mutant KDM2B allele (and thus the frequency of the allele) was assessed in selected subpopulations of Romagnola cattle. The prevalence of carriers within top-ranked Romagnola sires over the years 2007-2012 was 29.3% (allele frequency 14.6%). In young bull calves, 30.9% were carriers with an allele frequency of 15.4%.

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