BIOCHEMICAL POLYMORPHISMS IN SPANISH AVILENA-NEGRA IBERICA CATTLE

Thirteen biochemical blood polymorphisms were analysed in a population of 149 Spanish Avilena-Negra Iberica cattle. The study revealed varia tion at the following nine loci: WEB, CA, NP, CP, AMY1, ALE, GC, TF an d PTF2. The following systems were monomorphic: CAT, DIA1, MDH1 and ME 1. Using polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, a slow, migrating pair of bands was found in the GC protein system. This pattern is probably co ntrolled by the GC(C) allele, described in only a few cases in cattle. Furthermore, starch-gel electrophoresis allowed the detection of a va riant with intermediate mobility between the ALB(A) and the ALB(B) all eles at the albumin locus. A variant with a similar electrophoretic pa ttern has occasionally been reported in cattle. However, utilizing IEF under denaturing conditions, such a variant could not be differentiat ed from the ALB(A) allele and thus its significance is not clear.