Relationship of serum guanase levels with economic characters in Zebu purebred and temperate x Zebu crossbred dairy cattle

Abstract

Serum guanase levels of Indian Zebu (Hariana) cattle and its crosses with different exotic levels of temperate breeds of dairy cattle were estimated in 527 animals, and their associations with economic characters were determined. The overall mean value of serum guanase level was 13.46 +/- 0.45 IU/ml of serum. An inverse relationship between the concentration of the enzyme and the frequency of cattle falling within a definite range was observed, as over 75% of the animals possessed 1 to 20 IU/ml of serum guanase. An analysis of variance revealed significant differences (P less than 0.01) in enzyme levels among different genetic groups under study. Hariana (Zebu) purebreds had significantly higher enzyme levels (19.60 +/- 1.85) than any of the crossbred groups, whose enzyme levels ranged from 8.99 +/- 1.41 in Red Dane F1 half-breds to 14.30 +/- 1.11 in Brown Swiss F1 half-breds. The correlation and regression coefficients were significantly positive for reproductive traits such as age at first service and age at first calving, and significantly negative for production traits such as lactation yield and lactation length. These results suggest that selection of dairy cattle based on low serum guanase levels might result in correlated improvements in dairy cattle productivity.