Verification of selective DNA pooling methodology through identification and estimation of the DGAT1 effect

The discovery of markers linked to genes that are responsible for traits of interest to the dairy industry might prove useful because they could aid in selection and breeding decisions. We have developed a selective DNA pooling methodology to allow us to efficiently screen the bovine genome in order to find genes responsible for production traits. Using markers on chromosome 14 as a test case, we identified a gene (DGAT1) previously known to affect three traits (fat yield, protein yield and total milk yield). Furthermore, we predicted similar effects to those previously shown for DGAT1 in a New Zealand Holstein-Friesian herd. Additionally, we showed a low error rate (1.6%) for the pooling procedure. Hence we are confident that we can apply this procedure to an entire genome scan in the search for quantitative trait loci (QTL).