Biochemical and genetic analysis of variant C of caprine alpha s2-casein (Capra hircus)

Two alleles, A and B, were previously described at the goat alpha s2-casein locus. Isoelectric focusing allowed us to subdivide the former one in two new alleles, called A and C. Although alpha s2-casein C cannot actually be distinguished from its A counterpart by starch or polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, it differs from the previous allele by a single substitution Lys (A)/Ile (C) at position 167, which was confirmed at the nucleotide level. The frequencies of the three alpha s2-casein alleles A, B and C were estimated to be 0.85, 0.04 and 0.11 in the French dairy breeds 'Alpine' and 'Saanen'.