Historical hybridization between southern indigenous Chinese cattle and banteng has been well-documented and has resulted in gene introgression. Bitter taste receptors were reported in indigenous cattle as a result of introgression from banteng. To determine the level of introgression of the taste 2 receptor member 16 (TAS2R16) gene from banteng into Chinese cattle, two missense mutations in the bovine TAS2R16 gene were examined. Here, we explored the prevalence of the two variants in 28 indigenous Chinese cattle and banteng breeds (comprising 750 individuals) to determine the influence of banteng introgressions on Chinese cattle based on PCR and DNA sequencing. In our study, the two mutant alleles had a higher frequency distribution in southern China with strong geographic distribution, especially in the south-central and southeast areas. In conclusion, this study examines the impact of introgression on the frequency distributions of mutations in variable regions and the subsequent adaptation of Chinese indigenous cattle to different environmental conditions.
Keywords: TAS2R16; banteng; indigenous Chinese cattle; introgression.