Znamenskii, Krasnodar, 350055 Russia, e-mail nvk1972@yandex.ru; 3Institut fьr Tierzucht und Genetik, University of Veterinary Medicine (VMU), Veterinдrplatz, A-1210, Vienna, Austria, e-mail gottfried.brem@agrobiogen.de Acknowledgements: Supported by Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations and Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (project ¹ 14.604.21.0062, RFMEFI60414X0062) Received September 14, 2016 A b s t r a c t Breeding for genetically resistant cattle is an attractive approach to eradicate infectious disease in livestock. <...> Bovine leukaemia is one of the most common infectious diseases of dairy cattle, which causes significant economic losses. <...> Numerous studies have demonstrated that polymorphisms in the DRB3 gene at the bovine leukocyte antigen (BoLA) locus are associated with cow resistance to persistent lymphocytosis (PL), a clinical sign of leukaemia. <...> Alleles associated with PL susceptibility are generally prevalent in dairy cattle populations and may reflect their association with milk productivity. <...> In total, 171 Holstein sires were genotyped for DRB3 using the PCR-RFLP technique. <...> We calculated the estimated breeding values (EBV) for milk production traits, including milk yield (MY), fat yield (FY) and protein yield (PY), using genotype categories at the BoLA-DRB3 locus as a fixed effect. <...> Our findings indicate that high frequencies of PL-susceptibility alleles in BoLA-DRB3 may be a result of their association with milk production traits in dairy cattle in Russia. <...> Therefore, to prevent the development of clinical forms of bovine leukaemia in dairy herds in Russia, the impact of the genotypes at the BoLA-DRB3 gene locus on milk production traits must be considered. <...> Keywords: BoLA-DRB3 genotypes, BLV susceptible alleles, milk production traits, genetically resistant cattle Breeding to develop a livestock population genetically resistant to infection diseases is very important step toward the eradication of infection disease in farm animals and the sustainable food production. <...> Bovine leukemia is an economically important infection disease of dairy cattle, which is caused by bovine leukemia virus (BLV). <...> Economic losses due to BLV infection can come from reduced milk production, reduced reproductive efficiency, increased replacement <...>