The aim of the present study was to identify and characterize polymorphisms within the coding region and the 3' flanking region of the bovine serotonin receptor 1B gene among different cattle breeds. Four DNA fragments were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and then used for polymorphism identification by SSCP. The fragments showing different SSCP patterns were sequenced. And a total of six SNPs (G205T, C507T, C546G, C744T, G816A and G942A) were detected. The SNPs were at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium except C507T and C546G in all genetic population. The frequencies of allele 205T of Holstein were much higher than that of the other six beef cattle populations. Almost the PIC of all SNPs were not more than 0.10 except that of G205T in Holstein cows, which indicated the bovine HTR1B gene was conserved.