Estudi del polimorfisme de les lactoproteïnes en races cabrunes espanyoles

Using gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting techniques the polymorphism underlying quantitative and qualitative variations of caseins will be studied in native Spanish breeds of goat. The existence of allelic variants of caprine alpha-s 1 casein associated with different synthesis rate provides a unique example of mutations of one known gene having major effects on a trait of economic importance - the protein content of milk- and for which in addition an analysis of the basic molecular mechanism is possible. Because alleles associated with a low and intermediate content strongly predominate in the French milk breeds, a similar situation is possible in the Spanish ones. In this case a selection favouring the rarer alleles associated with a high content would significantly increase the casein content of milk, of critical importance in dairy industry