Archivos de Zootecnia ISSN: 0004-0592 [email protected] Universidad de Córdoba España
Issa, É.C.; Jorge, W.; Egito, A.A.; Sereno, J.R.B. CYTOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE Y CHROMOSOME OF NATIVE BRAZILIAN BOVINE BREEDS: PRELIMINARY DATA Archivos de Zootecnia, vol. 58, núm. 221, marzo, 2009, pp. 93-101 Universidad de Córdoba Córdoba, España
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How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative CYTOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE Y CHROMOSOME OF NATIVE BRAZILIAN BOVINE BREEDS: PRELIMINARY DATA
ANÁLISIS DEL CROMOSOMA Y DE RAZAS BOVINAS NATURALIZADAS BRASILEÑAS: DATOS PRELIMINARES
Issa, É.C.1, W. Jorge2, A.A. Egito3 and J.R.B. Sereno4
1Escola de Veterinária, UFG. Campus II. C.P. 131. CEP 74001-970. Goiânia, GO. Brasil. E-mail: [email protected] 2Departamento de Biologia Geral. ICB/UFMG. C.P. 486. CEP 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG. Brasil. 3Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia. C.P. 02372. CEP 70770-900, Brasília, DF. Brasil. 4Embrapa Cerrados. C.P. 08223. CEP 73310-970, Planaltina, DF. Brasil.
ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS PALABRAS CLAVE ADICIONALES Animal conservation. Animal genetic resources. Conservación animal. Recursos genéticos anima- Bos taurus taurus. Bos taurus indicus. les. Bos taurus taurus. Bos taurus indicus.
SUMMARY The present work is a preliminary cytogenetic dos los cariotipos de 29 machos a través de su tipo study carried out on 29 males of the Brazilian morfológico de cromosoma Y, submetacéntrico o breeds Curraleiro, Crioulo Lageano, Junqueira acrocéntrico, tipos estos considerados como and Pantaneiro, available at Embrapa Genetic marcadores para las subespecies taurinas y ce- Resources & Biotechnology, Brasília, DF and buínas, respectivamente. El resultado mostró que, Promissão farm, Poconé, MT. The objective was dentro de los seis sementales Curraleiros evalua- to investigate their Y chromosome morphology, dos, cuatro presentaron Y de cebú (acrocéntrico) whether submetacentric or acrocentric, consi- y dos de taurino (submetacéntrico), sugiriendo dered as markers of the taurine and zebuine contaminación racial por Cebú. Sin embargo, to- subspecies, respectively. The results showed dos los Pantaneiros analizados presentaron ex- that of the six Curraleiro animals analyzed, four clusivamente cromosoma Y de Cebú (acrocén- had an acrocentric and two had a submetacentric trico), mientras que los bovinos Crioulo Lageano Y chromosome, indicating contamination by zebu y Junqueira presentaron sólo Y submetacéntrico, breeds. All Pantaneiro bulls analyzed had confirmando su origen taurino. exclusively zebuine (acrocentric) Y chromosome. On the other hand, the Crioulo Lageano and INTRODUCTION Junqueira bulls had submetacentric Y chromo- somes, indicating their taurine origin. According to Epstein and Mason (1984), all domesticated cattle was originated from RESUMEN Bos primigenius, extinct in Poland in 1627. In Brazil, the native bovine breeds El objetivo de este trabajo fue realizar un descend from the Iberian animals which estudio preliminar del cariotipo de bovinos de spread all over the country, through random razas brasileñas: Curraleiro, Crioulo Lageano y Junqueira disponibles en la granja Parque perte- crosses and by interaction with the neciente a Embrapa Recursos Genéticos y environment. As in South America there Biotecnología, Brasília, DF y de los Pantaneiros were no animals of the bovine species at the ubicados en el norte del Pantanal, pertenecientes time of discovery, during the long colo- a la finca Promissão, Poconé, MT. Fueron analiza- nization period the cattle needed to produce
Recibido: 9-10-06. Aceptado: 1-4-08. Arch. Zootec. 58 (221): 93-101. 2009. ISSA, JORGE, EGITO AND SERENO milk and meat had to be brought from the loss of a single type or breed compromises Iberian Peninsula. It was in the 16th century the access to its genes and unique genetic that bovines first appeared in South America, combinations, which may be useful to coming from Portugal and Spain (Athana- agriculture in the future. ssof, 1946a). Some native Brazilian breeds, although The breeds introduced by the colonizers named differently and living in distinct became adapted to the new environment, regions, present similar phenotypes which forming the large herds named Crioulo raise doubts about their identity as a distinct (Creole), which differentiated into several racial group or native type. It is not known varieties (Britto, 1995). Thus, it is difficult to if these populations are genetically similar precisely state which breed(s) originated or not. Even if they belong to the same the different native breeds. In some cases, breed, they may have accumulated different the information about the original popula- alleles due to genetic drift, as a consequence tions was lost over time. of geographic isolation and adaptation to According to Mariante et al. (1999), in different ecological niches (Egito et al., general these breeds have extremely 2002). valuable characteristics, such as adaptation to inhospitable conditions, including CURRALEIRO parasites and infectious diseases, draught According to Athanassof (1946b), this and poor quantity and quality of food. breed is named Curraleiro in some States, Preservation of the native breeds has also a such as Goiás and Tocantins, and Pé-Duro historical value that is the genetic memory in others, such as Piauí and Maranhão. It is of the animals which helped colonizing the a native bovine breed that has not yet been country. Genetic traces of all these breeds improved, originated from the bovines are still left through their crossbreeds. The introduced in Brazil by the Portuguese and intervention of man in their reproduction Spaniards during the time of colonization. and selection processes did not cause any The Curraleiro breed stems from Bos taurus modification of their potential, besides those ibericus and, given its European origin, it is granted by nature. assumed to belong to the subspecies Bos According to Egito et al. (2002), the taurus taurus (Britto, 1995). search for more productive breeds led, as of Aiming to prevent its extinction, as well the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, to as that of other Brazilian breeds, EMBRAPA the import of breeds considered exotic, has developed a project for their preser- which, although highly productive, had vation, to be carried out by the Centro been selected in regions with a temperate Nacional de Pesquisa de Recursos Genéti- climate. These breeds caused, through cos e Biotecnologia (National Research absorbing crosses, the replacement and Center for Genetic Resources and Biotech- erosion of the local breeds. Although these nology) and by the Centro de Pesquisa local breeds presented lower production Agropecuária do Meio-Norte (Agricultural levels, they stood out for their complete Research Center of the Mid-North) (CPAN). adaptation to the tropics, where they had CPAN maintains a preservation unit for the undergone long-time natural selection. It is Curraleiro cattle at São João do Piauí, PI, in therefore necessary to preserve such ani- the semi-arid zone of the Brazilian Northeast, mal genetic resources, in order to prevent with approximately 300 animals (EMATER). their loss. Genetic diversity within domesti- Tambasco et al. (1985) found both types cated species is reflected by the variety of of Y chromosomes (acrocentric and sub- types and breeds that exist and by the metacentric) in the Curraleiro breed. The variation within each one of them, and the frequency of the acrocentric Y chromosome
Archivos de zootecnia vol. 58, núm. 221, p. 94. ANALYSIS OF THE Y CHROMOSOME OF NATIVE BRAZILIAN BOVINE BREEDS was higher than that of the submetacentric survive under conditions of water and food Y chromosome. In 1999, Britto and Mello stress conditions. confirmed this finding. CRIOULO L AGEANO PANTANEIRO These bovines from Southern Brazil Pantaneiro bovine, also named Cuiabano (Lages, State of Santa Catarina) are those or Tucura, descends from the Spanish breeds which keep the greatest resemblance to the introduced in America during the coloni- type of bovine introduced by the conque- zation process of the Plata Basin. According rors, therefore of indisputable Iberian origin. to Mazza et al. (1994), the literature on the This breed has evolved by natural selection phenotypic characteristics of Pantaneiro over four centuries and almost disappeared bovine, from the 16th to the 18th centuries, is as a consequence of indiscriminate crosses. rather scarce. Publications from the 20th When the Catarinense Highland was century portray these animals as short of colonized, the settlers brought the Fran- stature, with short, brown, dark and red- queiro cattle with them that probably mated brown hair. The authors believe that the with the bovines which already existed there, descriptions of the animals of the Pantanal originating the Crioulo Lageano cattle region, made in the 20th century, are not (Spritze et al., 2003). reliable, because in that time the crosses Currently, the population of these with their domestic and even zebuine breeds bovines is reduced to about 500 animals, of were still occurring. Based on morphological which more than 80% belong to a single measurements and weight development of breeder. Research works conducted in the Pantaneiro cattle taken the germoplasma 1980's by Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e bank analysis of the data confirm their Biotecnologia and by the Federal University reduced body size, with average weight at of Santa Catarina, in collaboration with a birth of 24 and 22 kg and, in the adult phase, few private breeders, showed advantages of 375 and 298 kg, for male and females, in exploring these bovines for crosses and respectively. also as a pure breed, under the raising The remaining populations, few and far conditions of the South Brazilian Highland between, of Pantaneiro cattle can be at (Spritze et al., 2003). present in the Northern part of the Pantanal, Tambasco et al. (1985) studied animals in the state of Mato Grosso, in areas where of the Crioulo Lageano breed and found a maximum flooding takes place along the higher frequency of the submetacentric Y Paraguay, Cuiabá, São Lourenço and Bento than of the acrocentric Y chromosome, as Gomes rivers. To the South, the Pantaneiro opposed to the Curraleiro breed. cattle are practically extinct. In this moment have only two populations from these J UNQUEIRA breeds in the Pantanal region. One in the Formed in the State of Minas Gerais, the Northern in Promissão farm, that doing a Junqueira cattle breed is a product of good work the rescue the breeds in this crosses between Caracu and other Brazilian areas and in the South there are a conserva- varieties. It is currently found in the tion in situ nucleus conducting by Embrapa Jequitinhonha River basin. The animals are Pantanal, that have a lot of research about robust, with a voluminous body with long this breeds in the region. and spiraled horns (EMATER). Their tail is More than three centuries of native thick and hairy; their hair is yellow, white- pasture adaptation to flooded Pantanal and reddish-brown speckled or patchy regions conferred the Pantaneiro bovine (Athanassof, 1946b). They are resistant to with rusticity, high fertility and the ability to parasites and abiotic stresses, like the breed
Archivos de zootecnia vol. 58, núm. 221, p. 95. ISSA, JORGE, EGITO AND SERENO that has probably originated this one, Cara- former authors, found both morphological cu, a Brazilian breed that also developed in types. The Junqueira breed showed only a this region. submetacentric Y chromosome, but this Junqueira is a breed developed in the study was based on three animals (Pires et inland of the State of São Paulo between the al., 2004). Issa et al. (2006) showed that the 18th and the 19th centuries, with an aptitude Pantaneiro cattle breed also presents the for meat. In the past, their long horns were dimorphism, most of the animals have an used to manufacture berrantes, a kind of acrocentric Y. musical instrument. Nowadays this breed is Giovambattista et al. (2000) studied the critically endangered, with less than a geographic distribution and the haplotype hundred animals left in the whole country frequency of the Y chromosomes of Bos (Diniz and Euler, 2005). Pires et al. (2004) taurus and Bos indicus in Argentine and found only submetacentric Y chromosome Bolivian Creole breeds, using cytogenetic in the Junqueira breed. and molecular techniques. The taurine Until this moment don't have much haplotype (submetacentric Y chromosome) information in the literature regarding the was found in 100% of the Argentine Creole morphology of the Y chromosome of these breeds, whereas in the Bolivian breeds both animals. For other hands this information is a submetacentric and an acrocentric Y basic and very helpful to use in animal chromosome were found, the first morpho- conservation program. logical type being more frequent than the The first chromosome studies in bovines latter. were carried out in 1892 by Bardeleben, who According to Hanotte et al. (2000), 69 described 2n= 16 chromosomes for the African bovine populations from 22 species. Several works performed in the countries were analyzed for a marker locus decades of 1910 and 1920 described different (INRA124) of the Y chromosome. From the chromosome numbers (Schoenfeld, 1902; 984 males studied, 693 (70%) and 291 (30%) Hoof, 1919; Masui, 1919; Wodsedalek, showed the indicus and taurus allele, 1920), until 1931, when Krallinger described respectively. for the first time the correct chromosome The present work had the objective of number of taurines as 2n= 60, with collaborating with Brazilian Agricultural submetacentric X and Y chromosomes. In Research Corporation (Embrapa) and Goiás 1964, Monnier-Cambon described the Y Federal University (UFG) in the charac- chromosome of zebuines as acrocentric. terization process from the native bovine Different shapes of the Y chromosome in breeds, by means of a cytogenetic study of the same breed have been described by the Y chromosome, and help the farmers in several authors (Potter et al., 1979; Moraes, the animal conservation in Brazil. 1978; Pinheiro, 1979; Halnan and Watson, 1982; Xin and Lin, 1993; Frisch et al., 1997). MATERIAL AND METHODS In the Brazilian breeds, the Y chromosome has been analyzed by a few local authors. For the analysis of the Y chromosome, Tambasco et al. (1985) described the we used 12 males (six Curraleiro, two Crioulo morphology of the Y in the Caracu, Mocho Lageano and four Junqueira animals) from Nacional, Curraleiro and Crioulo Lageano Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotec- breeds. These authors observed a dimor- nologia in Brasilia. To the Pantaneiro breed phism (acrocentric and submetacentric) of we used 17 unrelated males from Promissão the Y chromosome in these breeds. Britto farm, Poconé, MT. and Mello (1999) analyzed the Y chromo- Blood was collected from the jugular some of the Curraleiro breed and, like the vein using 4 ml Vacutainer tubes with sodium
Archivos de zootecnia vol. 58, núm. 221, p. 96. ANALYSIS OF THE Y CHROMOSOME OF NATIVE BRAZILIAN BOVINE BREEDS heparin for lymphocyte culture. About 3 ml was small, we believe that with a larger number of blood were collected in each tube. Then, of animals we might find both acrocentric and the tubes were placed in a styrofoam contai- submetacentric Y chromosomes. ner with reusable preserving ice (euthetic All of the 17 animals of Pantaneiro breed ice) and recyclable ice (Serono) and shipped analyzed in the present work from the by mail. Incubation of the cultures started Northern part of the Pantanal, had an 28 hours after blood collection, with a relative acrocentric Y chromosome (figure 5). success. Cell culture was performed using However, Issa et al. (2006) showed that the standard technique with 4ml culture Pantaneiro breed from Nhumirin Farm, Co- medium, 1 ml fetal calf serum, 0.1 ml rumbá, MS, South part of the Pantanal, had phytohemagglutinin and 8 drops of blood, 70-72 hours of incubation, 50 minutes colchicine and 20 minutes hypotonic (KCl 0.075M) treatment. After fixation in 3:1 methanol/acetic acid, the material was dripped on slides, stained with Giemsa and examined under a regular optical microscope. At least 15 metaphases of good quality from each animal were examined and photo- graphed using digital microphotography.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In the present work, all animals studied presented a karyotype with 2n= 60 chromo- somes. The autosomes were acrocentric and the X chromosome was submetacentric, its size being approximately the same as that of the pair 1 autosomes. As for the Y chromosome, four (66.67%) of the six Curraleiro animals analyzed had an acrocentric Y chromosome (figure 1), and two (33.33%) had a submetacentric Y chromosome (figure 2). Tambasco et al. (1985) showed that in the Caracu, Curraleiro and Mocho Nacional breeds the frequency of acrocentric Y chromosomes was higher than that of submetacentric Y's. In turn, in the Crioulo Lageano breed, the result was the opposite. In 1999, Britto and Mello studied the morphology of the Y chromo- some of the Curraleiro cattle and found that Figure 1. Karyotype of Curraleiro cattle 68% of the bulls had an acrocentric and 32% showing an acrocentric Y chromosome, a submetacentric Y chromosome. typical of Bos taurus indicus. Chromosome We found only submetacentric Y constitution: 2n= 60,XY. (Cariotipo de ganado chromosomes, both in the Crioulo Lageano Curralleiro mostrando cromosoma Y acrocéntrico, and in the Junqueira breeds (figures 3 and típico de Bos taurus indicus, constitución 4). As the number of animals in our sample cromosómica: 2n= 60,XY).
Archivos de zootecnia vol. 58, núm. 221, p. 97. ISSA, JORGE, EGITO AND SERENO
Figure 2. Karyotype of Curraleiro cattle Figure 3. Karyotype of Crioulo Lageano showing a submetacentric Y chromosome, cattle showing a submetacentric Y chromo- typical of Bos taurus taurus. Chromosome some, typical of Bos taurus taurus. Chromo- constitution: 2n= 60,XY. (Cariotipo de ganado some constitution: 2n= 60,XY. (Cariotipo de Curraleiro mostrando cromosoma Y sub. meta- Ganado Crioulo Lageano mostrando cromosoma céntrico, típico de Bos taurus taurus, constitución Y sub. metacéntrico, típico de Bos taurus taurus, cromosómica: 2n= 60,XY). constitución cromosómica: 2n= 60,XY). a dimorphism. Of the 12 animals analyzed, this data showing that it is possible to do a nine (75%) had an acrocentric Y, and three selection based on chromosome morpho- (25%) a submetacentric Y chromosome. logy from Pantaneiro breeds if the farmers Up to this moment, the native Brazilian have interesting in doing selection to taurine bovine breeds, which present the different types. types of Y chromosome, present the same morphologic and productive characteristics. CONCLUSIONS It was observed in the Pantaneiro cattle breed (Abreu et al., 2006). The aim of this The Y chromosomes of the Crioulo work is to contribute to management of the Lageano and Junqueira breeds are subme- animal conservation in the most of farms tacentric, and those of the Curraleiro breed in Brazil, not to elimination animals because present dimorphism, with a higher frequency the chromosome morphology. However, of acrocentric and a lower frequency of
Archivos de zootecnia vol. 58, núm. 221, p. 98. ANALYSIS OF THE Y CHROMOSOME OF NATIVE BRAZILIAN BOVINE BREEDS
Figure 4. Karyotype of Junqueira cattle Figure 5. Karyotype of Pantaneiro cattle showing a submetacentric Y chromosome, showing an acrocentric Y chromosome, typical of Bos taurus taurus. Chromosome typical of Bos taurus indicus. Chromosome constitution: 2n=60,XY. (Cariotipo de ganado constitution: 2n= 60,XY. (Cariotipo de ganado Junqueira mostrando cromosoma Y sub. meta- Pantaneiro mostrando cromosoma Y acrocéntrico, céntrico, típico de Bos taurus taurus, constitución típico de Bos taurus indicus, constitución cromosómica: 2n= 60, XY). cromosómica: 2n= 60, XY). submetacentric Y chromosomes. The ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Pantaneiro breeds from the Northern part of We thank Mr. Anderson Oliveira do the Pantanal showing only frequency of Carmo and Mr. Daniel Inêz dos Santos Filho acrocentric. When the zebuines were th for their collaboration with the technical introduced in Brazil, in the late 19 and early part. We also acknowledge the financial th 20 centuries, the animals brought by the support granted by Coordenação de colonizers after the discovery underwent a Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Supe- long process of breed contamination. Thus, rior (CAPES) and Fundação de Apoio ao the acrocentric Y chromosome found in part Desenvolvimento do Ensino, Ciência e of the animals studied was acquired through Tecnologia do Estado de Mato Grosso do such random crossings. Sul (FUNDECT).
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