A New Translocation t(1p;18) in an Italian Mediterranean River Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis, 2n=50) Bull: Cytogenetic, Fertility and Inheritance Studies

In recent years increasing attention has been paid to the cytogenetic control of Italian Mediterranean river buffalo (BBU) bulls authorized as sires which are registered in the stud book. Chromosome abnormalities described in this species are mainly numerical and affecting sex chromosomes. During routine cytogenetic analyses performed on young Italian Mediterranean river buffalo bulls in the progeny test, 1 animal was found to be carrier of a never before reported translocation t(1p;18) originated by fission of BBU1 and subsequent centric fusion of BBU1p with BBU18 as demonstrated by both R-banding and FISH-mapping techniques using specific molecular markers of BBU1p (DEFB1) and BBU18 (GPI). According to sperm analyses the semen characteristics were in physiological ranges, but the calf crop percentage was only 48.77% instead of 70-80%. Cytogenetic analyses performed on 50 offspring (36 females and 14 males) showed that 15 of them (30%) were carriers of the same translocation. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel