ABSTRACT
The Nramp1 gene has been associated with natural resistance to intracellular microorganisms in several species including bovine. Recent evidence suggests an association between polymorphism in the 3. untranslated region (3. UTR) of this gene with resistance/susceptibility (R/S) to Brucella abortus as determined in vivo and in vitro. In this study we tested for the variability of the short tandem repeat (STR) within the 3. UTR of Nramp1 in six breeds of Colombian creole cattle (CCC) and compared the genotypes with those of Holstein and Brahman, which were recently introduced into this country. In CCC as well as in Holstein we found the allele 175 fixed in all populations. In Brahman, 175 allele was also present with a frequency of 0.467 but additionally, in this breed there appeared five other alleles and among them two previously unreported: 183 y 185; also was found the allele 189 in the Colombian creole Harton del Valle cattle, which is not previously reported. Together these results suggest that the 175 allele in the 3. UTR Nramp1 may be an ancestral allele in cattle and if this is true the association previously reported with the R/S trait requires further evaluation.