Chemical classification of cattle. 1. Breed groups

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Abstract
From approximately 1000 papers with data on protein polymorphism in some 216 breeds of cattle, 10 polymorphic proteins were compared in means and variances of gene frequencies for 10 well-recognized breed groups for 196 of the breeds. The polymorphic proteins were .alpha.-lactalbumin, .beta.-lactoglobulin, caseins (asl, .beta. and .kappa.), serum albumin, transferrin, Hb, amylase I and carbonic anhydrase II. The breed groups were North European, Pied Lowland, European Red brachyceros, Channel Island brachyceros, Upland brachyceros, primigenius-brachyceros mixed, primigenius, Indian Zebu, African Humped (with Zebu admixture), and African Humped (Sanga). The coherence within groups and the differences between groups are often impressive. Only carbonic anhydrase II fails to differentiate at least some of the major breed groups. In some cases paradoxical distributions of rare genetic variants can be explained by a more detailed inspection of breed history. The chemical data support the morphological and geographical divisions of cattle into major breed groups. There are 3 distinct but related brachyceros groups; for some polymorphisms the 2 Channel Island breeds, the Jersey and the Guernsey, are quite divergent. Although the Pied Lowland has been considered as primigenius, it is a very distinct breed group. [The breeds discussed are members of the species Bos taurus and B. indicus.].