Association between Stearoyl CoA Desaturase (SCD) Gene Polymorphisms and Milk Production in Holstein Cattle Breed

Abstract

The SCD gene is a significant component of the leptin signaling pathway. The SCD gene has also been suggested as a candidate essential gene that can change the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids in milk and increase the amount of conjugated linoleic fatty acid, which is thought to have anti-cancer properties. The current research was carried out on Holstein cows to determine the association between SCD (Stearoyl-Coenzyme A Desaturase) gene polymorphism and total milk yield at 305 days (TMY305) and daily milk yield (DMY). The polymorphism in the SCD gene was identified using the PCR-RFLP technique and the SatI restriction enzyme for genotyping at SNP c.878T>C in the exon 5. The TT, TC, and CC genotype frequencies were 0.21, 0.50, and 0.29 respectively. While the allele frequencies of T and C were 0.46 and 0.54, respectively. According to the Chi-square test results, the SCD/c.878T>C distribution was in Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium (P<0.05). Statistical analysis indicated a significant association between the SCD gene polymorphism and TMY305 (P<0.05). The TC genotypes showed a higher mean TMY305 compared to the TT and CC genotypes.