title: Variation in the bovine FABP4 gene affects milk yield and milk protein content in dairy cows.
abstract: Fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) bind long-chain fatty acids and are involved in their intracellular transport. Of the known bovine FABP genes, FABP4 has been mapped to a region on chromosome 14 that contains quantitative trait loci for milk traits. This study investigated the association of FABP4 haplotypes with milk production traits in 719 Holstein-Friesian × Jersey cows. Polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis of a variable region of the gene revealed three haplotypes (A, B and C). Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified: two in exon 3 and three in intron 3. A was associated (P=0.032) with increased milk protein percentage (present: 4.00 ± 0.02%; absent: 3.95 ± 0.02%) and B was associated (P=0.009) with increased milk yield (present: 23.81 ± 0.23 kg/d; absent: 23.06 ± 0.21 kg/d), but tended to be associated with a decrease in protein percentage and an increase in protein yield. Cows with genotypes AA, AB and AC produced less milk, but with a higher protein percentage than BC cows. This suggest that FABP4 affects milk yield and milk protein content, both economically important traits, and that further study of this gene is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, Tarim University, Alar, Xinjiang Province 843300, China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Azimu
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hodge
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand.
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand.
authors.forename: J G H
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Hickford
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D033481:Chromosomes, Mammalian / Q000235:genetics*; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008892:Milk / Q000378:metabolism; D008894:Milk Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable
chemical_list: D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins; D008894:Milk Proteins