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Lactoferrin concentration and expression in New Zealand cows milked once or twice a day
Author(s) -
Gedye Kristene,
Notcovich Shirli,
CorreaLuna Martin,
Ariyarathne Pavithra,
Heiser Axel,
LopezLozano Raquel,
LopezVillalobos Nicolas
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
animal science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.606
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1740-0929
pISSN - 1344-3941
DOI - 10.1111/asj.13331
Subject(s) - milking , lactose , lactation , zoology , lactoferrin , herd , biology , ice calving , gene expression , gene , food science , genetics , pregnancy
This study evaluated the concentration and expression of lactoferrin (LF) in cows selected for once a day (OAD) milking compared to twice a day (TAD) milking. Milk samples were collected from the Massey University TAD and OAD herds. Milk traits and expression of LF and insulin‐like growth factor 1 (IGF‐1) were analyzed with a general linear model that included the fixed effects of milking frequency, lactation number, interaction between milking frequency and lactation number, and as covariates proportion of F, heterosis F × J and deviation from the herd median calving date. Cows milked OAD produced milk with higher ( p < .01) concentrations of protein and lactose than TAD milked cows. Compared to TAD cows, cows milked OAD had higher expression of the LF gene (1.40 vs. 1.29 folds, p = .03) and the IGF‐1 gene (1.69 vs. 1.48 folds, p = .007). The correlation between the expression of LF gene and the concentration of LF in milk was strong ( r = .66 p < .001), but the correlation between the expression of the IGF‐1 gene and LF concentration was stronger ( r = .94, p < .001). These results suggest that milking frequency affects the milk composition and expression of milk composition genes at early lactation.