Association of transferrin polymorphism with reproductive traits of Gir cattle.
The present study on 28 known genotype of Gir cattle was carried out to investigate the association of transferrin polymorphism with different reproductive traits at the Department of Animal Genetic and Breeding, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Kolkata during the period April-September 2009. The overall mean of different reproductive traits namely age at first calving, age at second calving and calving interval of Gir cattle population were 1651.61±45.19 days, 2531.64±87.28 days and 894.17±58.77 days respectively. The result of this present finding indicated that the animal with TfAE genotype was found to be superior for these reproductive trait of Gir cattle in this herd. The estimate of age at first calving, age at second calving and calving interval of the animal having the TfAE genotype were 1566.12±80.21 days, 2196.33±174.72 days and 696.33±83.70 days respectively. The animal with TfD1E genotype was most inferior for Age at second calving and Calving Interval, whereas the animal with TfAD1 genotype was most inferior for age at first calving and the estimate was 1767.52±242.54 days. The Age at second calving and Calving Interval were 2783.33±29.49 and 1130.66±142.62 days for TfD1E type Gir cattle. The heterozygote superiority at transferrin locus as observed in Gir cattle may be due to adaptive advantage in harsh climate of India. The polymorphic nature of transferrin in Gir cattle could be useful in marker assisted selection to improve reproduction performance.