Association of Stearoyl‐CoA Desaturase Expression with Cattle Milk Characteristics

Abstract

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) enzyme plays an important role in the metabolism of the lipids, thus the goal of this study was to investigate the influence of canola and soybean oilseeds on gene expression of SCD in adipose tissue, composition and yield of milk, fatty acid profile in Iranian Holstein cattle. Animals (n=20) were randomly selected to test experimental diets. Fatty acid composition was determined. After isolation of total RNA, cDNA was synthesized. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to amplify SCD and GAPDH. For analyzing the real-time PCR results, LinRegPCR, REST and SPSS softwares was employed. The animals fed canola seed in comparison animals fed soybean seed showed higher gene expression. The milk production, fat percentage, 4% fat corrected milk, body condition score and milk urea nitrogen showed a significant difference between two groups. The amount of a number of fatty acids extracted from adipose tissue including C18:3t, C18:0 and C16:1 in animals fed two different diets was variable and their amount was significantly different. SCD gene expression was not significantly different between animals fed two diets (canola and soybean). This may be due to the similarity of the fatty acid composition of the two compounds and their nutrient balance. Since canola seed are higher in fat and protein than soybean seed, it can be a good substitute for soybean seed in the diet of dairy cows. In addition, canola seed, with the effect of nutrition on the composition of milk fatty acids can be used to improve milk.