Phenotypes

Häfliger et al. (2021) investigated “the two Braunvieh populations reared in Switzerland, the dairy Brown Swiss (BS) and the dual-purpose Original Braunvieh (OB). We performed a genome-wide analysis of array data of trios (sire, dam, and offspring) from the routine genomic selection to identify candidate regions showing missing homozygosity and phenotypic associations with five fertility, ten birth, and nine growth-related traits. In addition,...

Besnard et al. (2023) "present a data-mining framework designed to detect recessive defects in livestock that have been previously missed due to a lack of specific signs, incomplete penetrance, or incomplete linkage disequilibrium. This approach leverages the massive data generated by genomic selection. Its basic principle is to compare the observed and expected numbers of homozygotes for sliding haplotypes in animals with different life histo...

Nogueira et al. (2022) "A rare SNP, predicted to be deleterious was discovered within a conserved WD40 domain repeat-encoding region ... of the bovine autosomal ... EML5 gene ... in an Angus bull ... with low fertility." The authors "demonstrate that this mutant allele is present in many breeds world-wide." 

This was one of the first inherited lysosomal storage disorders to be studied extensively in animals. The pioneering work was done by Jolly and colleagues at Massy University in New Zealand, who developed an enzyme assay that enabled carriers to be distinguished from homozygote normals with a high degree of accuracy (Jolly et al., 1973). More than twenty years later, following the cloning and characterisation of the human gene for alpha mannos...

Abbitt et al. (1991) reported that bovine beta-mannosidosis, a lysosomal storage disease, is caused by a deficiency of beta-mannosidase. Affected neonatal calves are unable to rise with intention tremors, hidebound skin, slightly domed calvaria, slight prognathism, and narrow palpebral fissures. Their postmortem findings included variable dilatation of the lateral cerebral ventricles, marked pallor and paucity of white matter of the cerebrum a...

Besser et al. (1990) reported a congenital syndrome of long, thin limbs, severe joint and tendon laxity, microspherophakia, ectopia lentis, heart murmurs and aortic dilatation in 7 calves, where all sired by a single phenotypically normal bull suspected of germline mosaicism for a new mutation resulting in this disease. One of the calves died with ruptured aorta at age 16 months. Histopathologic and electron microscopic studies of the aortic m...

Jacinto et al. (2022): "Whole-genome sequencing [of the affected calf and its sire and dam] revealed . . . a private X-linked variant in the PLP2 gene (chrX:87216480C > T; c.50C > T), which was present only in the genomes of the case (hemizygous) and his mother (heterozygous). It was absent in the sire as well as in 5365 control genomes. The identified missense variant exchanges the encoded amino acid of PLP2 at position 17 (p.Thr17Ile),...

In what must be a sign of the times, Karageorgos et al. (2007) documented the first reported occurrence of this disorder in cattle and, in the same paper, also reported its molecular basis; in this case a missense mutation E452K (c.1354G>A) in the gene for alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAGLU).

Al-Khudhair et al. (2024) report a variant in the CACNA1S gene (rs3423414874) as likely causal variant for this condition.

The double-muscle trait in cattle is characterised by an increase in muscle mass of approx 20%, resulting in substantially higher meat yield, a higher proportion of expensive cuts of meat, and lean and very tender meat, for which a substantial premium is paid. The trait is autosomal recessive, and the locus has been given the symbol mh. It occurs at such a high frequency in Piedmontese and Belgian Blue cattle that it is characteristic of these...

Kunz et al. (2016) reported a likely causal mutation as "a missense mutation (p.S568N, c.G1703A; [Chr4: 49,878,773 bp, rs800397662]) in the PNPLA8 gene that encodes patatin-like phospholipase domain containing 8".

Reith et al. (2024): "Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 7 blind cattle and 9 unaffected relatives revealed a 1-bp frameshift deletion in ceroid lipofuscinosis neuronal 3 (CLN3; chr25 g.26043843del) for which the blind cattle were homozygous and their parents heterozygous. The identified variant in exon 16 of 17 is predicted to truncate the encoded protein (p. Pro369Argfs*8) ... ."

Woolley et al. (2020) report clinical signs, pathology, fibroblast cell culture analysis and identification of a likely disease causing mutation for Niemann-Pick type C disease in Australian Angus/Angus-cross calves.

Jacinto et al. (2025) investigated two aborted half-sib Stabiliser calves with osteogenesis imperfecta. Whole genome sequencing identified a likely "heterozygous missense variant in exon 21 of [the functional candidate gene] COL1A2, located in the triple-helical region (Chr4:g.11792118G > A; c.1156G > A; p.Gly386Arg) [omia.variant:1837]. ... The variant may be a de novo mutation inherited from a germinal mosaic sire."

Bourneuf et al. (2017): a de novo likely causal variant is COL1A1 p.1049_1050delinsS in Fleckvieh Petersen et al. (2019): "Whole-genome sequencing revealed the presence of a missense mutation in the alpha 1 chain of collagen Type I (COL1A1), for which both calves were heterozygous. The variant resulted in the substitution of a glycine residue with serine in the triple helical domain of the protein; in this region, glycine normally occupies eve...