Association between THRSP Gene Polymorphism and Fatty Acid Composition in Milk of Dairy Cows

Thyroid hormone-inducible hepatic protein is involved in the de novo synthesis of fatty acids in the lactating mammary gland. Different variants of the gene that encodes this protein may be associated with its different activity. The primary aim of this study was to find polymorphism in the THRSP gene and estimate the relationship between individual genotypes and fatty acid composition in milk. Investigations were carried out on 224 cows represented by two breeds-Jersey (n = 80) and Polish Holstein-Friesian (n = 144). Polymorphism in THRSP was detected by Sanger sequencing; however, genotypes were determined by the PCR-RFLP method. It was shown that the analyzed variant had a significant (p < 0.05) influence on palmitic and stearic fatty acids as well as on fatty acids with a chain length of 14, 16, and 6-16 in Jersey breed and on caproic, palmitic, myristoleic, and palmitoleic fatty acids in H-F. Obtained results indicated that analyzed SNP in bovine THRSP gene (rs42714482) may be considered as a potential marker for fatty acid composition in milk.

Optimization and Validation of a Linear Appraisal Scoring System for Milk Production-Linked Zoometric Traits in Murciano-Granadina Dairy Goats and Bucks

Implementing linear appraisal systems (LAS) may reduce time, personnel and resource costs when performing large-scale zoometric collection. However, optimizing complex zoometric variable panels and validating the resulting reduced outputs may still be necessary. The lack of cross-validation may result in the loss of accuracy and value of the practices implemented. Special attention should be paid when zoometric panels are connected to economically-relevant traits such as dairy performance. This methodological proposal aims to optimize and validate LAS in opposition to the traditional measuring protocols routinely implemented in Murciano-Granadina goats. The sample comprises 41,323 LAS and traditional measuring records from 22,727 herdbook-registered primipara does, 17,111 multipara does and 1485 bucks. Each record includes information on 17 linear traits for primipara/multipara does and 10 traits for bucks. All zoometric parameters are scored on a nine-point scale. Cronbach’s alpha values suggest a high internal consistency of the optimized variable panels. Model fit, variability explanation power and predictive power (mean square error (MSE), Akaike (AIC)/corrected Akaike (AICc) and Bayesian information criteria (BIC), respectively) suggest the model comprising zoometric LAS scores performs better than traditional zoometry. Optimized reduced models are able to capture variability for dairy-related zoometric traits without noticeable detrimental effects on model validity properties.