The relationship between the variants of the bovine MBL2 gene and milk production traits, mastitis, serum MBL-C levels and complement activity

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL), a calcium-dependent collagenous lectin, plays an important role in the host immune defence against a wide range of pathogens. There are MBL1 and MBL2 genes which encode the MBL-A and MBL-C proteins, respectively. This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between the variants of the bovine MBL2 gene and milk production traits, mastitis, serum MBL-C levels and hemolytic complement activity in both classical pathway (CH50) and alternative pathway (ACH50) in Chinese Holstein cattle. Four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the exon 1 of the MBL2 gene in Chinese Holstein cattle and Luxi yellow cattle were identified by the direct sequencing method. The SNP g.201 G > A was identified as a non-synonymous mutation (codon 31, Arg > Gln) at the N-terminus cysteine-rich domain and the SNPs g.234 C > A and g.235 G > A (codon 42) made Pro to Gln at the 1st Gly-X-Y repeat of the collagen-like domain, while the SNP g.244 T > C (codon 45) was identified as a synonymous mutation (Asn > Asn) at the 2th Gly-X-Y repeat of the collagen-like domain. The SNP markers (g.201 G > A, and g.234 C > A) were significantly correlated with somatic cell score (SCS) (P < 0.05). The concentration of MBL-C protein in serum ranges from 0.8 to 7.4 μg/mL by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Six combinations of different haplotypes from the four SNPs were identified in Chinese Holstein cattle. Statistical analysis revealed that cows with the haplotype combination H4H5 exhibited the lowest SCS. The CH50 value of H4H5 and H5H5 cow are significantly higher than H2H5 haplotype combination (P < 0.05). The association analysis results showed that the haplotype combination H4H5 may be used as a tolerance haplotype combination for the bovine mastitis.