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Fatty acid synthase effects on bovine adipose fat and milk fat

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Abstract

A quantitative trait locus (QTL) was identified by linkage analysis on bovine Chromosome 19 that affects the fatty acid, myristic acid (C14:0), in subcutaneous adipose tissue of pasture-fed beef cattle (99% level: experiment-wise significance). The QTL was also shown to have significant effects on ten fatty acids in the milk fat of pasture-fed dairy cattle. A positional candidate gene for this QTL was identified as fatty acid synthase (FASN), which is a multifunctional enzyme with a central role in the metabolism of lipids. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in the bovine FASN gene, and animals were genotyped for FASN SNPs in three different cattle resource populations. Linkage and association mapping results using these SNPs were consistent with FASN being the gene underlying the QTL. SNP substitution effects for C14:0 percentage were found to have an effect in the opposite direction in adipose fat to that in milk fat. It is concluded that SNPs in the bovine FASN gene are associated with variation in the fatty acid composition of adipose fat and milk fat.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Farm Managers and their staff at AgResearch’s Tokanui Station (Trial 1) and Flock House Station (Trial 3) for care of the animals and for their assistance with data and sample collection. They thank AgResearch’s staff at the Dairy Science and MIRINZ Centres at Ruakura for carrying out the fatty acid composition analyses, and also thank Dr. Paul Shorten for advice during manuscript preparation. This work was funded by the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science & Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, PB 3123, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Chris A. Morris, Neil G. Cullen & Sharon M. Hickey

  2. Invermay Agricultural Research Centre, PB 50034, Mosgiel, New Zealand

    Belinda C. Glass, Dianne L. Hyndman, Tim R. Manley, John C. McEwan & Michael A.H. Lee

  3. Discipline of Agricultural and Animal Science, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy Campus, Roseworthy, SA 5371, Australia

    Wayne S. Pitchford & Cynthia D.K. Bottema

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  1. Chris A. Morris
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  2. Neil G. Cullen
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  3. Belinda C. Glass
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  4. Dianne L. Hyndman
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  5. Tim R. Manley
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  6. Sharon M. Hickey
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  7. John C. McEwan
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  10. Michael A.H. Lee
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Correspondence to Chris A. Morris.

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Morris, C.A., Cullen, N.G., Glass, B.C. et al. Fatty acid synthase effects on bovine adipose fat and milk fat. Mamm Genome 18, 64–74 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-006-0102-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-006-0102-y

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