Individual Identification and Paternity Control of Japanese Black Cattle Based on Microsatellite Polymorphism

We have tested a Japanese Black cattle individual identification and paternity control system comprising many microsatellite markers located on different bovine autosomes. Twenty-three markers were included in the system with the potential to distinguish 31 trillion individuals and exclude 37 million sires. To decrease the time and effort involved in genotyping, we developed a system using only two lanes of a sequencing gel for genotyping individual animals at the 23 loci. In our system, six of eight sets of full-sibs were distinguished by genotype, and the remaining two sets were found to be monozygotic twins (one is presumptive). The 23 markers used in paternity testing of 20 offspring excluded nine of ten candidate sires for each offspring without information on maternal haplotypes. Each suggested candidate was exactly matched with the registered sire. The system employing the 23 markers therefore proved to be applicable to individual identification and paternity control with a high degree of reliability in Japanese Black cattle.