Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Apr 12;10(4):671.
doi: 10.3390/ani10040671.

Polymorphisms in Fatty Acid Desaturase 2 Gene are Associated with Milk Production Traits in Chinese Holstein Cows

Mingxun Li  1   2 , Qisong Gao  1 , Mengqi Wang  1 , Yan Liang  1 , Yujia Sun  2 , Zhi Chen  1   2 , Huimin Zhang  1   2 , Niel A Karrow  3 , Zhangping Yang  1   2 , Yongjiang Mao  1   2
Affiliations

Polymorphisms in Fatty Acid Desaturase 2 Gene are Associated with Milk Production Traits in Chinese Holstein Cows

Mingxun Li et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

This study investigated the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of Fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2) gene and further explored their genetic effects on conventionally collected milk production traits in Chinese Holstein cows using 18,264 test-day records of 841 cows. One missense mutation c. 908 C > T (SNP site in the complementary DNA sequence), which caused an amino acid change from alanine to valine (294Ala > Val), and two 3' untranslated region (UTR) SNPs, c.1571 G > A and c.2776 A > G were finally identified. The SNP c.908 C > T was significantly associated with test-day milk yield, fat percentage and 305-day milk, fat and protein yield. In particular, the T allele of the SNP c.908 C > T showed a significant association with decreased somatic cell score (SCS) in the investigated population. Significant relationship between the SNP c.1571 G > A and 305-day milk yield showed that genotype GG was linked to the highest milk yield. Substituting the allele G for A at the c.2776 A > G locus resulted in a decrease of protein percentage. Our results demonstrated that FADS2 was an interesting candidate for selection to increase milk production and improve resistance against mastitis.

Keywords: fatty acid desaturase 2; milk production traits; single nucleotide polymorphisms; somatic cell score.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic diagram of the fatty acid desaturase 2 gene with the localization of the three identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The effects of investigated fatty acid desaturase 2 SNPs on milk production traits. (A–F) The SNP c.908 C > T was significantly associated with test-day milk yield, fat percentage and 305-day milk, fat and protein yield, and somatic cell score (n = 6553 for CC; n = 8687 for CT; and n = 3024 for TT). (G) The GG genotype at the c.1571 G > A locus was linked to the highest 305-day milk yield (n = 14578 for GG; n = 3313 for GA; and n = 373 for AA). (H) Substituting allele G for A at the c.2776 A > G locus resulted in a decrease of protein percentage (n = 12110 for AA; n = 5619 for AG; and n = 518 for GG). Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences between genotypes (p < 0.05); Different uppercase letters indicate significant differences between genotypes (p < 0.01). Data shown are means ± SE. The dotted line represents the overall mean.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Multiple alignments of fatty acid desaturase 2 protein sequences from mammalian species. The position of Ala294Val mutation is indicated by the vertical line. The numbers on the right are relative positions of amino acid.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Macciotta N.P.P., Mele M., Conte G., Serra A., Cassandro M., Dal Zotto R., Borlino A.C., Pagnacco G., Secchiari P. Association between a polymorphism at the stearoyl CoA desaturase locus and milk production traits in Italian Holsteins. J. Dairy Sci. 2008;91:3184–3189. doi: 10.3168/jds.2007-0947. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Selvaggi M., Dario C., Normanno G., Celano G.V., Dario M. Genetic polymorphism of STAT5A protein: Relationships with production traits and milk composition in Italian Brown cattle. J. Dairy Res. 2009;76:441–445. doi: 10.1017/S0022029909990070. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Amos W., Driscoll E., Hoffman J. Candidate genes versus genome-wide associations: Which are better for detecting genetic susceptibility to infectious disease? Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 2011;278:1183–1188. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1920. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hayes B.J., Bowman P.J., Chamberlain A., Goddard M. Invited review: Genomic selection in dairy cattle: Progress and challenges. J. Dairy Sci. 2009;92:433–443. doi: 10.3168/jds.2008-1646. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zhu M., Zhao S. Candidate gene identification approach: Progress and challenges. Int. J. Biol. Sci. 2007;3:420. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.3.420. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources