528. Resequencing of casein genes in Swedish Red Cattle with varying milk coagulation properties

Abstract

The ability of milk to coagulate is crucial for cheese production. Poorly or non-coagulating milk will affect industrial cheese production with lower cheese yield and longer processing time. We have previously shown that up to 19% of milk from Swedish Red Dairy Cattle is poorly coagulating and 18% is noncoagulating. We have also identified specific milk proteins and genetic variants as potential biomarkers for selective breeding. However, these variants are not fully characterized and show conflicting results between presumed genetic variants and actual protein masses. We re-sequenced the casein genes in 30 cows with varying milk coagulation properties and detailed analyses of their milk proteins. The analyses of three genes confirmed existing variation in the casein gene, and identified 77 single nucleotide polymorphisms in introns as well as at least ten insertions or deletions. No new coding variants were detected so far.