Capillary gel electrophoretic analysis of cattle breeds based on difference of DNA mobility of microsatellite markers

A breed of cattle, i.e., Korean cattle (Hanwoo), was identified based on the DNA mobilities of their microsatellites (MSs) by capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) with a laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detector. The MS markers were used for the accurate identification of species-specific genes. The DNA mobilities of the MS markers of Hanwoo and Holstein were measured using a CGE system with a fused-silica capillary (inner diameter of 75 μm, outer diameter of 365 μm, and total length of 50 cm). The capillary was dynamically coated with 1.0% (w/v) polyvinylpyrrolidone (M_r = 1,000,000) and then filled with a mixture of 1.3% (w/v) poly(ethylene oxide) (M_r = 600,000) and 1.9% (w/v) poly(ethylene oxide) (M_r = 8,000,000) as a sieving gel matrix. The species-specific genes of Hanwoo and Holstein were clearly distinguished within 33 min. This CGE assay technique is expected to be a useful analytical method for the fast and accurate identification of breeds of cattle.