Indicine cattle have lower reproductive performance in comparison
to taurine. A chromosomal anomaly characterized by the presence Y
markers in females was reported and associated with infertility in
cattle. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of
the anomaly in Brahman cows. Brahman cows (n = 929) were genotyped
for a Y chromosome specific region using real time-PCR.
Only six out of 929 cows had the anomaly (0.6%). The anomaly frequency
was much lower in Brahman cows than in the crossbred
population, in which it was first detected. It also seems that the
anomaly doesn't affect pregnancy in the population. Due to the
low frequency, association analyses couldn't be executed. Further,
SNP signal of the pseudoautosomal boundary region of the Y chromosome
was investigated using HD SNP chip. Pooled DNA of
“non-pregnant” and “pregnant” cows were compared and no difference
in SNP allele frequency was observed. Results suggest that
the anomaly had a very low frequency in this Australian
Brahman population and had no effect on reproduction. Further
studies comparing pregnant cows and cows that failed to conceive