Elsevier

Livestock Science

Volume 144, Issue 3, April 2012, Pages 281-284
Livestock Science

Short communication
Identification of SNPs in the FASN gene and their effect on fatty acid milk composition in Holstein cattle

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2011.12.003Get rights and content

Abstract

FASN is a multifunctional enzyme that catalyzes de novo biosynthesis of long-chain saturated fatty acid, and alteration of this enzyme may affect economic traits including fatty acid composition. Sequencing the coding sequence (CDS) of the FASN gene has so far been done only partially for dairy cattle. In this study, the CDS of the FASN gene of eight Holstein cattle was sequenced to detect nucleotide polymorphisms. We could identify 13 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of which five were non-synonymous mutations (H1390Y, I1856L, T1950A, W1955R and T2264A). The association between these SNPs and economic traits was analyzed using 198 Holstein dams. Genotypes of H1390Y corresponded to those of the I1856L in the group, suggesting these SNPs were linked. Furthermore, the T1950A was suggestively linked with the W1955R. The association study revealed that T1950A/W1955R had an effect on milk fat content and the C14 Index. This will help to understand the complex association between the FASN gene and economic traits.

Introduction

Holstein cattle are valued around the world as dairy cows for their excellent milk production. The breeding of dairy cattle has concentrated on increasing amount of milk fat and protein. However, not only milk yield but also its quality is important traits for dairy cattle. Contained amount of solid non fat, such as milk protein and milk sugar, and milk fat is another important trait for dairy cattle, because these two components are closely related with milk flavor and nutritional properties (Haug et al., 2007, Masuko, 1999). Furthermore, unsaturated fatty acid has been reported to be useful for human health (Koletzko et al., 1998). For instance, oleic acid, an unsaturated fatty acid, may contribute to the prevention of atherosclerosis (Massaro et al., 1999). Consequently, fatty acid composition is considered an important economic trait, and improvement of fatty acid composition in milk, especially the increase of unsaturated fatty acids, is important (Mannen, 2011). Recent studies have revealed various genes controlling fatty acid composition in milk (Soyeurt et al., 2007, Stoop et al., 2008). Candidate genes controlling fatty acid composition in milk may be found in fat synthesis and metabolism pathways, which are under control of multiple genes.

Fatty acid synthase (FASN) is a complex homodimeric enzyme that catalyzes the formation of fatty acids of 16 carbon atoms in length from acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA in the presence of NADPH (Chakravarty et al., 2004). This synthesis involves a conserved set of chemical reactions for the cyclic-step elongation of activated precursors by two carbon units (Smith, 1994). Previous studies revealed the association between the FASN genotypes and economic traits (Abe et al., 2009, Morris et al., 2007, Roy et al., 2006, Schennink et al., 2009, Zhang et al., 2008). According to these studies, certain single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) had significant effects on fatty acid composition such as C14:0. However, despite accumulating data, the association between the FASN gene and economic traits still remains elucidated. The effect of the FASN gene varied depending on the group investigated. For instance, the effect of the FASN gene on economic traits was not observed in a group of Holstein cattle (Narukami et al., 2011).

A complete sequence of the coding sequence (CDS) of the FASN gene, derived from Hereford cattle, has been published in the NCBI database (NW_001493692). However, sequencing the CDS in the FASN gene of dairy cattle was only partially performed (Morris et al., 2007, Roy et al., 2006). Holstein cattle is the world's highest production dairy animal and improvement of its milk production has been required in the industry. Therefore, DNA polymorphism search in the FASN gene using Holstein cattle is necessary. In the current study, the sequence comparison of the CDS in the bovine FASN gene was performed among eight Holstein cattle to detect nucleotide polymorphisms. The effect of identified polymorphisms in the FASN gene on economic traits will be discussed in this paper.

Section snippets

Animals

Eight Holstein cattle collected from Gifu Prefecture (Japan) were used for sequence comparison. cDNAs were prepared from subcutaneous adipose tissue. For the association study between the FASN genotypes and economic traits, genomic DNA samples were extracted from 198 Holstein dams in Iwate Prefecture (Japan). These cattle were sampled considering ancestry to minimize their relatedness. The mean parity and days from parturition were 1.43 and 154, respectively. The milk samples of the dams were

Polymorphism identification

In the eight Holstein cattle 13 SNPs were identified (Table 2). Five SNPs (4168bpC/T, 5566bpA/C, 5848bpA/G, 5863bpT/C and 6790bpA/G) were non-synonymous mutations and the others were synonymous. The 4168bpC/T was predicted to cause amino acid substitution from histidine to tyrosine (H1390Y), 5566bpA/C from isoleucine to leucine (I1856L), 5848bpA/G from threonine to alanine (T1950A), 5863bpT/C from tryptophan to arginine (W1955R) and 6790bpA/G from threonine to alanine (T2264A). The T1950A and

Discussion

In the current study, we performed sequence comparison of the CDS in the bovine FASN gene with eight Holstein cattle to detect nucleotide polymorphisms. FASN is a multifunctional enzyme that catalyzes de novo biosynthesis of long-chain saturated fatty acid (Chakravarty et al., 2004, Smith, 1994), indicating functional/quantitative alteration of this enzyme may affect economic traits including fatty acid composition. Despite intense studies, the association between the FASN gene and economic

Conclusion

In the current study, we performed a sequence comparison of the CDS in the FASN gene among eight Holstein cattle. Thirteen SNPs were identified in Holstein cattle and T1950A and W1955R was effective on milk fat content and C14 Index. Our study indicates that diplotype of the T1950A and W1955R might yield useful information in terms of predicting the fatty acid composition of milk products, or that they may be applied as genetic markers for the advancement of milk quality in Holstein cattle.

The

Conflict of interest

All authors do not have any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.

Acknowledgments

We thank the Wagyu Registry Association and National Livestock Breeding Center Iwate Station for collecting the samples and the data of cattle.

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