Degree of leukochimerism with calf age in Angus-crossbred twin sets

Twinning in cattle is infrequent and usually undesired. It can result in an increased occurrence of abortion and dystocia, reduced calf survival and a high likelihood of freemartinism in mixed-sex twins. Twin gestations are also commonly associated with the formation of placental vascular anastomoses (PVA) between twins. Through PVA they share blood, hormones (leading to freemartinism in mixed sex twins) and hematopoietic stem cells, which are the progenitors of white blood cells. The sharing of stem cells between twins can result in leukochimeric twin sets. These are twins that have white blood cells derived from both self and the co-twin owing to the fetal migration of hematopoietic stem cells from the extraembryonic mesoderm of the yolk sac to final sites like bone marrow and thymus. This study examined the degree to which this leukochimerism changes with age. DNA was extracted from hair bulbs containing mesenchymal dermal papilla to determine the individual's true genotype and blood samples were obtained at six time points from 1 week to 8 months of age to assess leukochimerism. Samples were genotyped using a medium density SNP chip, and quantitative estimates of allele frequency were determined using SNPs for which members of a twin set had alternative homozygous genotypes. The results indicate statistically significant changes in the proportion of self and co-twin with age and suggest that by 2–4 months of age the genotypic mix in white blood cells represents the hematopoetic stem cell population resident in the individual (i.e. permanently found in thymus and bone marrow).