Transferrin polymorphism of indigenous cattle in Rhodesia and Zambia

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Abstract
1. Two-thousand and sixty serum samples from indigenous cattle in Central Africa were examined for serum transferrin type. The breeds studied were Manguni, Mashona, Tuli, Angoni and Afrikander.2. The variation in gene frequencies from breed to breed is presented. With the exception of one Angoni herd, the remaining herds fall into distinct breed groups.3. The Mendelian hypothesis was tested on eight herds including at least one herd of each breed. With two exceptions good agreement with this hypothesis was obtained. The two exceptions were traced to two bulls, a Mashona (TfB/TfD) and a Tuli (TfD/TfF), both of which contributed TfD to their progeny at a rate in excess of Mendelian expectation.4. The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium hypothesis was tested for thirteen herds and good agreement was obtained in all cases.5. In Angoni cattle no evidence was found to reject the hypothesis of independent segregation at the haemoglobin and transferrin loci.