Single nucleotide polymorphisms in lactoferrin gene are associated with lactoferrin content in milk and somatic cell count in deoni (Bos indicus) cows.

Arun Pratap  Singh; K P  Ramesha; S  Isloor; P  Divya; Akhila  Rao; M  Basavaraju; D N  Das; U  Munde

Lactoferrin, a glycoprotein, is an important antimicrobial molecule present in milk which plays a vital role in antimicrobial defence of the udder in bovines. In the present investigation, polymerase chain reaction- single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) studies were carried out in 122 Deoni (Bos indicus) cows to detect SNPs of lactoferrin gene and to analyze the association between the observed polymorphisms with milk lactoferrin content and Somatic Cell Count (SCC). The PCR-SSCP analysis revealed a total of 20 different variants in the entire coding regions of the lactoferrin gene. Analysis of exons 2, 6 and 8 of lactoferrin gene revealed 4, 3 and 5 unique SSCP patterns, respectively. The PCR-SSCP analysis of exons 3, 9, 14 and 15 revealed two unique SSCP patterns. Comparison of nucleotide sequences of lactoferrin gene of the Deoni cows with taurine cattle revealed a total of 39 point mutations, 25 of which were found to be in coding region. Conceptualized translation of nucleotide sequence revealed 15 amino acid changes. The SSCP variants of exons 2 and 6 had significant (P