The inheritance of a A-Pyridine Nucleosidase in bull semen

K.H. Giles and K.L. Macmillan

New Zealand Dairy Board A.B. Centre, Feilding

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Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. 1975, 35: 65-70

Semen samples from each of 300 dairy and 41 beef sires were assayed from pyridine nucleosidase activity. Among the dairy sires only 16% produced semen free of this enzyme, whereas the comparable figure among the beef sires was 54%. The highest enzyme concentration for a dairy sire was 1573 units/ml of semen compared with 630 units in two beef sires.

The distribution of enzyme concentrations among the dairy sires showed groups of animals at intervals of approximately 300 units/ml. This result suggested that the concentration of seminal pyridine nucleosidase was simply inherited and may involve the additive effects of four alleles at two loci. This hypothesis was supported by grouping results for 28 sires each with from 2 to 17 sons.

The measurement of seminal components, particularly proteins and enzymes produced by accessory sex glands could be a useful means of studying gene expression in cattle.

Keywords: NZSAPAB;

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