Jayasekera, U

Leipold, HW

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Genetics Selection Evolution

Albinism in US Charolais cattle

U. JAYASEKERA

H.W. LEIPOLD

EDP Sciences OAI-PMH repository (1.2.0)

U Jayasekera

HW Leipold

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Albinism in US Charolais cattle
U. JAYASEKERA H.W. LEIPOLD
Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine,
Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, U.S.A.
Summary
Complete albinism occurred in 7 calves in two purebred Charolais herds. One calf
exhibited nystagmus, opisthotonus and solar dermatitis. All calves had photophobia, acting
blind in bright daylight. Two calves were necropsied. Irides, retina, skin and hooves contained
scanty amounts or no pigment. Ganglionic layer of retina had a paucity of neurons.
Inheritance of this defect is likely to be recessive.
1. - Introduction
Various types of partial or incomplete albinism have been reported in many
breeds of cattle such as Holsteins, Guernseys and Aryshires (PETERSON et al., 1944),
Herefords (LEIPOLD & HusTOrr, 1966), a Zebu breed (Roy, 1974), Swiss Simmentals
(WESEx et al., 1973) and others as reviewed by LAUVERGNE (1968). Complete albi-
nism has been documented only in one Guernsey male calf (Ltror.n et al., 1968),
one Austrian Murboden female (SCHLEGLER, 1959), 4 Beef Shorthorns (GREENE et
al., 1973) and Brown Swiss calves (WINZENRIED & LAUVERGNE 1970).
Reported here is complete albinism in purebred Charolais calves.
2. - Material and methods
Defective calves for this investigation were part of a long-term study of conge-
nital defects in cattle (LEIPOLD et al., 1972, LEIPOLD 1978). Calves were observed
clinically, were humanely euthanitized and necropsied immediately. Tissues were
taken from brain, spinal cord, eyes, endocrine glands, internal organs and skin. Tis-
sues were fixed in 10 p. cent buffered, neutral formalin, processed routinely,
sectioned at 6 microns and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H & E).
3. - Clinical history
Complete albinism was reported from two purebred Charolais herds. The first
calf brought to us was a 2-week-old purebred bull Charolais calf, and it was pre-
sented to us because of blindness. Six such blind calves were seen over a 5 year
period in this purebred Kansas Charolais herd. They were sired by the same bull
and all 5 dams were half sisters. One dam had an albino calf in successive years.
After removal of the bull no more cases of albinism were observed. Bull and all
dams involved had normal eye color.
A 5-week-old male purebred Charolais calf from a 50 head purebred cow Cha-
rolais herd in Missouri was presented to us in lateral recumbency. It had opistho-
tonus, nystagmus, and appeared to be blind. The owner had not encountered any
other animal with pigmentary anomalies previously. The animal was euthanatized
and necropsied.
4. - Gross pathologic changes
Both calves necropsied had skin which was whitish to pink and the hair was
white and silky (fig. la and lb). Areas around eyelids lacked pigment. The tongue was
whitish-pink and hooves were yellowish-white. Skin over face, head and distal limbs
revealed lesions of solar dermatitis and had a tendency to peel off (fig. 1 a and 1 b).
The irides were faintly pink (fig. 2). Whitish conjunctiva were densely injected
with blood. Ocular fundi were pink and vessels of the retina were prominent. In
transverse sections, the tapetum nigrum and tapetum lucidum were indistinguishable
and were pigmentless.
5. - Histopathologic changes
None of the layers of epidermis had melanin. Hairs were devoid of pigment.
Epidermis was thin. Some sections of skin had mild infiltration of polymorpho-
nuclear leukocytes in the dermis.
Retinal pigment layers did not contain pigment and scanty amounts were pre-
sent in the ciliary body and limbus (fig. 3). Irides were completely free of pigment. A
paucity of neurons was observed in the ganglionic layer of the retina.
6. - Discussion
Coat color in animals is dependent on the amount of pigment in epidermis,
depth at which it is located, and density of the medium between pigment and light
scattering surface (Fox, 1953). Mammalian coat color is almost entirely dependent
on presence or absence of melanin in the skin and hair, while eye color is deter-
mined by intraocular melanin and hemoglobin (SEARLE, 1968). In mammals, me-
lanins exist in distinct forms as eumelanin (brown or black) and pheomelanin (yellow
or reddish). Thus, the genetics of coat color in mammals is largely concerned with
hereditary factors affecting these pigment granules by altering their number, shape,
arrangement and position or by substituting one type of melanin to another (Fox
& VEVERS, 1960). Eumelanin is derived from tyrosine and coverted to dopa (3.4-
dihydroxyphenylalanine) by catalytic action of the enzyme tyrosinase. DOPA is then
oxidized to dopa quinone, undergoes further oxidation and polymerization to become
melanin (HARRIS, 1959). Genes may act on any of the biochemical steps in the
synthesis of melanin within the cell, and thus result in abnormal coat color (FITZ-
PATRICK et al., 1958).
Clinical, opthalmologic and microscopic findings in the present case are consis-
tent with complete albinism as elaborated by LAUVERGNE (1968), LEIPOLD et al.
(1968), & GREENE et al. (1973). Tapetal hypoplasia and optic disc colobomas as
described by GELATT et al. (1969) were not observed in these albinotic Charolais
calves.
Albinism appears to be a rare defect. In Swiss Brown cattle in Switzerland, the
recessive gene was estimated to house a frequency of 0.002 (WINZENRIED & LAU-
VERGNE, 1970). In a US survey of bovine birth defects involving over 70,000 births,
no albinos were encountered, making the frequency of the albino gene, if recessive,
to be less than 0.004 (LEIPOLD et al., 1972). GREENE et al. (1973) concluded that the
type of inheritance of albinism in Beef Shorthorns appeared to be recessive. The pattern
of occurrence of albinism in these two purebred Charolais herds is suggestive of a
recessive mode of inheritance. However, further investigations are warranted to elucidate
the exact nature of inheritance of complete albinism among Charolais cattle.
Résumé
Albinisme de bovins Charolais aux Etats-Unis
Sept veaux complètement albinos sont apparus dans deux élevages de bovins Charolai.s
en race pure aux Etats-Unis. Un des veaux présentait du nystagmus, de l’opisthotonus et
une dermatite solaire. Deux veaux ont été disséqués. L’iris, la rétine, la peau et les sabots
contenaient très peu, ou pas du tout, de pigment. La couche ganglionnaire de la rétine était
pauvre en neurones. Le déterminisme héréditaire de cette anomalie est probablement
récessif et la fréquence du gène dans la race assez basse.
References
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Albinism in US Charolais cattle

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