Potential influence of κ-casein and β-lactoglobulin genes in genetic association studies of milk quality traits.

OBJECTIVE: From a review of published information on genetic association studies, a meta-analysis was conducted to determine the influence of the genes κ-casein (CSN3) and β-lactoglobulin (LGB) on milk yield traits in Holstein, Jersey, Brown Swiss, and Fleckvieh.

METHODS: The GLIMMIX procedure was used to analyze milk production and percentage of protein and fat in milk. Models included the main effects and all their possible two-way interactions; not estimable effects and non-significant (p>0.05) two-way interactions were dropped from the models. The three traits analyzed used Poisson distribution and a log link function and were determined with the Interactive Data Analysis of SAS software. Least square means and multiple mean comparisons were obtained and performed for significant main effects and their interactions (p<0.0255).

RESULTS: Interaction of breed by gene showed that Holstein and Fleckvieh were the breeds on which CSN3 (6.01%±0.19% and 5.98%±0.22%), and LGB (6.02%±0.19% and 5.70%±0.22%) have the greatest influence. Interaction of breed by genotype nested in the analyzed gene indicated that Holstein and Jersey showed greater influence of the CSN3 AA genotype, 6.04%±0.22% and 5.59%±0.31% than the other genotypes, while LGB AA genotype had the largest influence on the traits analyzed, 6.05%±0.20% and 5.60%±0.19%, respectively. Furthermore, interaction of type of statistical model by genotype nested in the analyzed gene indicated that CSN3 and LGB genes had similar behavior, maintaining a difference of more than 7% across analyzed genotypes. These results could indicate that both Holstein and Jersey have had lower substitution allele effect in selection programs that include CSN3 and LGB genes than Brown Swiss and Fleckvieh.

CONCLUSION: Breed determined which genotypes had the greatest association with analyzed traits. The mixed model based in Bayesian or Ridge Regression was the best alternative to analyze CSN3 and LGB gene effects on milk yield and protein and fat percentages.