CHARACTERISATION OF GENES AFFECTING METABOLIC ADAPTATION IN TRANSITION DAIRY COWS
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Date
2019
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College of Veterinary and animal Science,Mannuthy
Abstract
The period from three weeks before parturition until three weeks after
parturition is the transition period in dairy cows. This time period is critical in the
health and production of dairy cows and profitability of dairying as most diseases
occur during this period. The dairy cows undergo several metabolic adaptations to
overcome the stress of foetal growth and lactation. Even when maintained under
similar feeding and managemental conditions, dairy cows exhibit variation in
adaptability. This indicates the genetic influence on metabolic adaptability. The
present study was performed in 30 apparently healthy pregnant crossbred dairy cows
with an objective to characterize three genes responsible for metabolic adaptability
and to detect variations in these genes, among animals with varying adaptability, as
indicated by their BHBA concentration. Blood was collected and serum was
separated at fortnightly intervals from four weeks before the predicted day of
parturition until four weeks after parturition. Concentration of NEFA and BHBA
were determined. The mean concentration of NEFA (0.254±0.21 mmol/L) and BHBA
(0.608±0.024 mmol/L) during pregnancy were significantly elevated in comparison
with the NEFA (0.349±0.37 mmol/L) and BHBA (0.681±0.23 mmol/L) during
lactation. As BHBA is a better indicator of metabolic adaptability, the animals were
grouped based on their BHBA concentration using cluster analysis. The genes
DNAJC30, SNAI2 and UEVLD known to influence metabolic adaptability were
sequenced from representative animals of each group. Four differences (transitions)
in sequence were observed downstream the coding region of DNAJC30 gene between
the groups. One change was located in the promoter region and another in exon one
of SNAI2 gene. The CDS of UEVLD gene did not show any change when compared
with the available Bos taurus sequence in NCBI. The variations in genes studied
might contribute to difference in the metabolic adaptability between the groups.
Further studies in a larger population, is required to ascertain the suitability of using
these as markers for selection of dairy animals for better metabolic adaptability