Associations of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the Bovine FADS6 Gene with Fatty Acid Composition in Hanwoo (Korean Cattle)

The bovine fatty acid desaturase (FADS) gene cluster consists of FADS1, FADS2, FADS3, and FADS6, which acts as key enzymes in fatty acid metabolism. Of these, the genetics effects of variants in FADS1, FADS2 and FADS3 have been previously studied. However, the genetic effects of variants of FADS6 gene have not been studied. The aim of this study was to identify genetic variants in the bovine fatty acid desaturase 6 (FADS6) gene and study their association with fatty acid composition in Hanwoo cattle. Six genetic variants were observed, three each in intron 2 and exon 6 by DNA sequencing analyses. The association of genetic variants with fatty acid composition was evaluated in 90 Hanwoo steers. The variants were confirmed and the animals were genotyped by RFLP (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) and AS-PCR (Allele Specific PCR) analyses. The analysis revealed that palmitoleic acid (C16:1n7) was associated with g.3391G > A, g.3660A > C and g.15657C > T, and stearic acid (C18:0) showed highly significant association with g.3660A > C segments. Both g.3391G > A, g.3660A > C also had strong additive and dominance effect for Palmitoleic acid, while g.3660A > C also had a strong dominance effect for stearic acid. These results could be useful for modulating fatty acid composition in beef and produce meat with higher monounsaturated fatty acid to saturated fatty acid ratio (MUFA/SFA), which had been shown to have positive health effect in humans.