Investigation on allele and genotype frequencies of ADH1C and FASN genes in three cattle breeds in Türkiye

Improvement of selection programs based on candidate genes for meat yield and quality is an efficient approach for overcoming the current dilemma between the increasing human population and the decreasing population size of farm animals. Being known to be associated with meat yield and quality in cattle, ADH1C and FASN genes were investigated across three cattle breeds reared in Türkiye namely East Anatolian Red (EAR), South Anatolian Yellow (SAY), and Holstein Friesian (HF) in this study. For this purpose, 37 animals per breed were genotyped via the allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (AS-PCR) technique. The distribution of allele frequencies significantly differed between HF and native Turkish breeds. C allele frequency ranged from 0.014 (EAR) to 0.311 (HF) while T allele frequency varied between 0.689 (HF) and 0.986 (EAR) in ADH1C polymorphism. C and T allele frequencies were calculated as 0.068 and 0.932, respectively, in SAY breed. G was the most frequent allele across all cattle breeds regarding FASN gene variation. The lowest (0.014) and highest (0.365) A allele frequency were detected in EAR and HF breeds, respectively, while G allele frequency ranged from 0.027 (EAR) to 0.635 (HF). Compared to native breeds, HF had a higher heterozygosity. A large part of the total genetic variation (67%) was attributed to differences within individuals. Variations of ADH1C and FASN genes turned out to be informative enough to distinguish native Anatolian cattle breeds from HF via genetic distance-based phylogenetic analysis. No animals with superior genotypes for the ADH1C and FASN genes were observed in EAR, while two animals with AA genotype were detected for the FASN gene in the SAY breed. These findings imply that for the time being, these genes do not seem efficient for marker-assisted selection (MAS) studies while desired genotypes may be developed via suitable mating programs for long-term production. Further studies may focus on screening native Turkish cattle breeds regarding other meat yield and quality-related traits to develop selection strategies.