Abstract: Arachnomelia syndrome (AS) is a recessive inherited disease in cattle. Although the arachnomelia phenotypes are virtually identical in Brown Swiss and Simmental cattle, the causative mutation are different, which are a 1 bp insertion c.363-364insG in the sulfite oxidase (SUOX) gene and a 2 bp deletion c.1224_1225delCA in the molybdenum co-factor synthesis step 1 (MOCS1) gene, respectively. In the current study, combining fluorescence PCR with capil-lary electrophoresis technology, an automatic fluorescence method was established, which could detect the two causative loci rapidly and correctly with a single reaction. Samples from 51 Simmental bulls, 80 cows mated artificially using semen of Simmental bulls and their resulted 106 progeny, together with 55 Xinjiang Brown were collected and used for validation of the newly designed methods. Our results have laid a foundation for screening AS disease causing mutations in Chinese cattle.

Key words: arachnomelia syndrome, Simmental, Brown Swiss, sulfite oxidase gene (SUOX), molybdenum cofactor synthesis step 1 gene (MOCS1)